Multiparty system is up to the people, scholar says<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Political professor Deliar Noer says the people
\nshould be allowed to determine how many political parties
\nIndonesia needs through general elections, rather than by
\nlegislations.<\/p>\n
A multiparty election system would more effectively limit the
\nnumber of parties people wish to have, the former University of
\nIndonesia lecturer told a seminar on Saturday.<\/p>\n
The election system should set the minimum amount of votes a
\nparty or a candidate must obtain to ensure representation in the
\nHouse of Representatives, Deliar said, citing election practices
\nof some countries abroad.<\/p>\n
A hefty deposit should be required of parties or candidates in
\ncontesting the election, with the risk of forfeiting the money if
\nthey don't win the minimum percentage of votes, he said.<\/p>\n
He describes this system as a \"natural selection\" process
\nbecause parties that do not have widespread support from the
\npeople will find it difficult to survive. \"A party will have to
\nthink twice before deciding to contest the election,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Deliar, who obtained his masters in political science from
\nCornell University, Ithaca, New York, was commenting on President
\nSoeharto's statement Friday that the present three-party system
\nshould not be changed because it was the result of 20 years of
\npainful and difficult consensus-building process.<\/p>\n
Soeharto, who was personally involved in streamlining the
\nnumber of political parties in Indonesia to three in the early
\n1970s, said a multiparty system is not only unrealistic for
\nIndonesia but it would also be a setback for the country.<\/p>\n
Five legislations, first enacted in 1975 and improved in 1985,
\nunderpin the current political system in Indonesia, which limits
\nthe number of political organizations allowed to contest the
\nelection to three: Golkar, the United Development Party (PPP) and
\nthe Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI).<\/p>\n
Deliar said article 28 of the 1945 Constitution guarantees
\npeople freedom to organize, to assemble and to express opinions
\nand therefore, people should be allowed to form a new party if
\nthey wish to.<\/p>\n
\"Let the people decide on the appropriate number of political
\nparties this country has,\" he said, adding that limiting the
\nnumber of political parties to three does not reflect the
\npeople's sovereignty, the essence of democracy.<\/p>\n
Referring to concerns that a multiparty system would plunge
\nIndonesia into the anarchy and chaos seen in the 1950s, Deliar
\nsaid Indonesians have become politically mature enough to live in
\na multiparty system.<\/p>\n
\"We don't have to worry about repeating past failures because
\nour people have grown mature in politics,\" he said. \"They are
\nmore critical in voting for which party.\"<\/p>\n
In the past year, Indonesia has seen the emergence of a number
\nof new political parties contesting the three-party system. They
\ninclude the Indonesian Democratic Union Party (PUDI), founded by
\ncontroversial politician Sri Bintang Pamungkas, and the
\nDemocratic People's Party (PRD), founded by young activists.<\/p>\n
Neither PUDI nor PRD have been recognized by the government
\nand will not take part in the 1997 general election.<\/p>\n
Leaders and members of the PRD have been arrested following a
\nbloody riot in Central Jakarta on July 27 which the government
\nhas blamed on the group.<\/p>\n
The seminar Saturday, organized by the Jakarta chapter of the
\nCorps of Alumni of the Indonesian Moslem University Students
\nAssociation, also featured. Gen. (ret.) Abdul Haris Nasution, and
\npolitical scholars Arbi Sanit and Yusril Ihza Mahendra. (imn)<\/p>",
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