'Sluggish deliberation may delay elections'<\/p>\n
Edith Hartanto and Novan Iman Santosa, The Jakarta Post,
\nJakarta<\/p>\n
Members of the General Election Commission (KPU) have called for
\nthe speedy deliberation of the election bill to avoid a possible
\ndelay of the 2004 General Election.<\/p>\n
One of 24 bills being deliberated at the House of
\nRepresentatives (DPR), the election bill is part of a package of
\nfour crucial political bills.<\/p>\n
\"Legislators must give priority to articles on KPU which will
\nconduct the election within a limited period of time,\" KPU deputy
\nchairman Ramlan Surbakti told The Jakarta Post on Friday,
\nreferring specifically to chapter 6 of the bill dealing with KPU
\nstructure.<\/p>\n
KPU members, who believe that a full two years is needed to
\nprepare for the 2004 General Election, have complained that the
\nbill has seriously undermined their independence by giving the
\nMinistry of Home Affairs most of the authority to organize the
\nelection.<\/p>\n
Ramlan's call comes as time is running short. The DPR will
\nonly set up its special committee to deliberate the political
\nbills on July 1, leaving only 15 days before the House ends its
\nhearing session on July 19.<\/p>\n
KPU members expect legislators to discuss the 19-chapter
\nelection bill within this period. Legislators, however, have
\nhinted they will do so only in August when the People's
\nConsultative Assembly (MPR) convenes its annual session.<\/p>\n
\"It is unlikely the special committee will start deliberating
\nthe bill before the MPR's annual session. The House needs at
\nleast three to four months to complete such a bill,\" said Yahya
\nZaini of the Golkar Party faction.<\/p>\n
If this is the case, he said, the House will only be able to
\nendorse it by December.<\/p>\n
\"Had the government submitted the bill sooner, the House would
\nhave finalized it by now,\" Yahya told the Post.<\/p>\n
Ramlan refuted it by saying that KPU had handed the draft law
\nto the then home affairs minister, Surjadi Soedirdja, in April
\nlast year but the ministry only started working on it in January.<\/p>\n
\"Had they handed it to us, we could have finished it in less
\nthan a month,\" Ramlan said.<\/p>\n
The Ministry of Home Affairs, now under Army Let. Gen. (ret)
\nHari Sabarno, submitted the draft law to the DPR late last month.<\/p>\n
Yahya said the government's preference to wait until the
\ncompletion of the amendment of the 1945 Constitution was the
\nreason behind the delay. The fourth amendment of the Constitution
\nis being deliberated by the MPR.<\/p>\n
Ramlan said the articles on KPU structure are needed as an
\nentry point to form election commissions at the regional level.
\nEven if the bill as a whole had not been passed into law but the
\nfact that DPR had agreed on those particular articles was enough
\nto get things moving, he said.<\/p>\n
\"Without an endorsement on those articles, we could not even
\nstart preparing the election,\" Ramlan said.<\/p>\n
MPR Decree No.IV\/1999 stipulates that the next general
\nelection will be held by the end of 2004 at the latest. KPU will
\ndecide the election date after consulting the President.<\/p>\n
The number of tasks to be done after the endorsement of the
\npackage of political bills are enormous, including the training
\nof about 3.5 million election officials and polling station
\nofficers, which will take about a year. Besides the election
\nbill, the three other bills are on political parties, on the
\ncomposition of representative bodies (locally known as susduk)
\nand on the presidency.<\/p>\n
If the bills were only endorsed in January 2003 instead of
\nDecember 2004, Ramlan suggested that the election be delayed.<\/p>\n
\"If such things happen, it is better to delay the poll until
\nafter 2004 for the sake of quality and credibility of the general
\nelection. We must have a better election than the one in 1999,\"
\nhe said.<\/p>\n
Timeline for the 2004 General Election:<\/p>\n
* Political bills to be endorsed by December 2002.<\/p>\n
* The formation and verification of the election committee in 30
\nprovinces and some 400 regencies and mayoralties (to be completed
\nin six months time).<\/p>\n
* The training of some 4,500 election officials and over 3
\nmillion polling station officers (12 months).<\/p>\n
* The registration and verification of political parties to form
\nthe DPR and the Regional Legislative Council (DPRD) (3 months).<\/p>\n
* The registration and verification of individuals to form the
\nRegional Representatives Council (DPD) (3 months).<\/p>\n
* Voters registration and population registration (3 months).<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/sluggish-deliberation-may-delay-elections-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }