Political bills submitted to House for deliberation<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The head of a government team set up to
\nformulate three political laws, Ryaas Rasyid, said that draft
\nbills were submitted to the House of Representatives (DPR) for
\nconsideration on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
The draft laws on general elections, political parties and on
\nthe function and composition of the DPR, the People's
\nConsultative Assembly (MPR) and regional legislative councils
\n(DPRD) have been screened by the State Secretariat and are now
\nready for discussion, he said on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Ryaas, who is also director general for regional autonomy and
\ngeneral administration in the Ministry of Home Affairs, said the
\nlatest revision of the draft law on elections included a clause
\nwhich would allow members of the Civil Servants Corps (Korpri) to
\nvote for political parties of their own choosing.<\/p>\n
Korpri is part of the Big Golkar Family, a fact which so far
\nobliges its 4 million members to vote for the ruling political
\ngroup. The government continues to insist that Golkar is a
\nfunctional group and not a political party.<\/p>\n
Ryaas added that as bureaucrats, members would still not be
\nallowed to join political parties.<\/p>\n
\"A government employee must obtain his superior's consent and
\napply for non-paid leave or permanently resign from the corps if
\nhe joins a political party,\" he explained after the opening of a
\ntwo-day meeting of the country's 27 provincial governors.<\/p>\n
Ending speculation on what electoral system the government
\nwould prefer, the draft law on general elections proposes a
\ncombination of a district system, under which the electorate
\nwould vote directly for politicians, and proportional
\nrepresentation, under which votes would be cast for parties and
\nnot people. House members will be selected on a proportional
\nbasis.<\/p>\n
The draft law on elections requires a political party to have
\nat least 14 provincial chapters nationwide or 1 million
\nregistered members before it can contest an election.<\/p>\n
The two requirements are expected to exclude many of the 80
\npolitical parties which have been set up in the country since May
\nthis year.<\/p>\n
The draft law on political parties states that a political
\nparty must be established by at least 50 people and must not
\ndifferentiate its members according to their ethnicity, religion,
\nrace or gender.<\/p>\n
It also suggests limiting the amount of money that a political
\nparty can receive from individuals and groups or institutions in
\nany single year.<\/p>\n
\"A political party can receive a maximum of Rp 5 million
\n(US$454.5) in financial support from any one private citizen in
\nany single year and a maximum of Rp 50 million from groups or
\ninstitutions over the same period,\" the draft reads.<\/p>\n
The draft also reaffirms that neither members of the Civil
\nServants Corps or the Armed Forces (ABRI) can stand for election
\nand that members of ABRI are not entitled to vote.<\/p>\n
The draft law on the function and composition of the DPR, MPR
\nand the regional legislative councils suggests that the
\nchairmanship of the MPR and DPR should be separated.<\/p>\n
The draft proposes an MPR with 700 seats, 550 of which would
\ngo to members of the House (including 55 appointed Armed Forces
\nlegislators). Eighty-one seats would be allocated to regional
\nrepresentatives and the remaining 69 seats would go to members of
\nreligious, racial and occupational groups.<\/p>\n
Apparently in response to the widely held opinion that in the
\npast the House and the Assembly served only to \"rubber stamp\" the
\ngovernment's legitimacy, the team has inserted a clause which
\nwould ban members of the two institutions from simultaneously
\nholding positions in the executive branch of government.<\/p>\n
Clause 45 in chapter VII states that a member of the House
\ncannot hold \"a position at any level in the executive or judicial
\nbranches of the government.\" Clause 44 rules forbids Assembly
\nmembers from holding positions such as governor, regent or the
\nhead of a state body.<\/p>\n
\"Hopefully the discussion (of the laws) can be completed by
\nDecember,\" Ryaas said. That would give us just enough time to
\nprepare for the election next May. (imn)<\/p>",
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