Political revival seen as most important theme<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The most significant thing to come out of the
\nelection campaign so far is the need for political
\nrevitalization, political observer J. Kristiadi said yesterday.<\/p>\n
Kristiadi, from the Center for Strategic and International
\nStudies, said the fight against corruption, collusion and
\nnepotism and other campaign themes were now insignificant because
\nthe public was unlikely to believe there would be substantial
\nchange.<\/p>\n
Political revitalization, introduced by the United Development
\nParty (PPP), was now the most relevant theme, he said.<\/p>\n
\"PPP sees that Indonesia's political system is stagnant...
\n(Elected PPP members) should continue to follow up on this when
\nthey represent the people in the House,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Kristiadi said political revitalization was needed because the
\ngovernment had become too powerful for the House of
\nRepresentatives to control.<\/p>\n
\"The House has become a part of the bureaucracy,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He said that, before revitalizing Indonesian politics, the
\nHouse had to revitalize itself.<\/p>\n
This meant changing House rules which stopped members properly
\nrepresenting their constituents.<\/p>\n
He cited the requirement that people from two parties in the
\nHouse had to introduce bills or amendments as a rule which
\nrestricted the House's initiative. He said this rule must change
\nfor the House to function properly.<\/p>\n
Besides changes to House rules, the bureaucracy's attitude
\ntowards political parties and organizations had to change, he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
\"The bureaucracy should have the political will not to meddle
\nin political parties and organizations,\" he said, deploring the
\ncurrent situation where organizations' leaders have to solicit
\nthe government's blessing, and members have to pass screening to
\nprove they have no past communist links.<\/p>\n
Kristiadi said he doubted the campaign would achieve anything.<\/p>\n
\"The structure of the election is so unfair because the
\nbureaucracy dominates it in order to help a particular contestant
\nwin,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He said the distortions in the election process were very
\nsignificant.<\/p>\n
\"The elections have become mere political receptions, which
\nmeans people know who will be there and what to expect. It's not
\na real election at all,\" he said.<\/p>\n
But political observer Maswadi Rauf, from the University of
\nIndonesia's School of Political and Social Sciences, said that
\ndespite the shortcomings, the campaign was important.<\/p>\n
\"The campaign period is actually very important because people
\nmake their decisions at the last minute... Without campaigns,
\nthere would be many people who would opt not to vote,\" he said.<\/p>\n
But, he said, the public's understanding of the campaign was
\nlimited to the physical side of rallies and festivities.<\/p>\n
\"This perception is as incorrect as the government's
\nunderstanding that a set of strict rules can guarantee that two-
\nway traffic campaigns will run smoothly,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Maswadi said that instead of improving the campaign, the new
\ncampaign rules had made things worse.<\/p>\n
\"Many people have rallies just for the sake of breaking these
\nrules,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He suggested that the government take gradual steps to change
\nrally and speech-based campaigns into discussion campaigns.<\/p>\n
He said the government should allow rallies until the next
\ngeneral election in 2002. In 2007, the proportion of discussions
\nto rallies should balance and in 2012 the proportion of rallies
\nshould fall.<\/p>\n
\"Only in 2017, if the political parties want, will the public
\nbe prepared to have full dialog campaigns for the election,\" he
\nsaid. (pwn)<\/p>",
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