1998 paves the way toward a legal, legitimate democracy

1998 paves the way toward a legal, legitimate democracy

By Ridwan Max Sijabat

JAKARTA (JP): Political scientist Deliar Noer insisted
recently that all pro-reform elements ensure that the general
election take place next year, "no matter what". If the elections
are foiled, "the status quo forces would be stronger," he said.

Many share the opinion of Deliar, who is also chairman of the
Muslim Ummat Party, out of a realization that the reform movement
which forced Soeharto to step aside must be cemented legally.
This cement is, among other things, a democratic, fair and honest
general election.

A new set of political laws are therefore needed to make sure
such a general election occurs.

Once new laws are enacted, "President B.J. Habibie can call
for the elections within one week," Minister/State Secretary
Akbar Tandjung once said.

These days, the House of Representatives is deliberating
government-sponsored draft laws on the general election,
political parties and the structure and function of the House of
Representatives (DPR), the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR)
and provincial and regional legislatures.

Both Habibie's transitional administration and the Assembly
have recently agreed to hold a fair and democratic, multiparty
general election on June 7, 1999. That day will be declared a
national holiday.

The four House factions have rejected the district electoral
system proposed by the government, believing that the nation did
not have enough time to adopt a new system. They instead opted to
maintain the proportional representation system, albeit with some
adjustments.

In the "open party list system" being adopted, people will
vote for parties as well as lists of the parties' legislature
candidates.

Now, Golkar wants the system to be implemented down to
regencies and mayoralties, while the United Development Party
(PPP) and the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) want to limit the
system to the provincial level so that any excess votes can be
collected and exchanged for more seats in the House of
Representatives.

The House as a whole, however, agreed to insert in the draft
law a stipulation that the district system would be implemented
in post-1999 elections.

What else has the House agreed upon in its deliberations on
the three political bills?

* The general election would be run by a national election
committee comprised of representatives from political parties and
the government.

* The head of state would be responsible for holding the
general election, but he/she may not intervene in any of the
decisions made by the committee.

* The committee would elect its own chairperson. In the past,
election committees were chaired by the minister of home affairs.

Many have criticized, however, the exclusion of societal
groups from the committee.

The House answered these criticisms by saying that these
groups could monitor the elections along with local independent
monitoring institutions and foreign observers. All of these
groups would be allowed to report any irregularities detected in
the elections.

* An official monitoring committee would be established to
handle reported fraud and conflicts. The central monitoring body
will be chaired by the chief justice, the provincial monitoring
committees will be chaired by provincial court chiefs, while the
regency monitoring committees will be chaired by district court
chiefs.

Political parties

Only weeks after Soeharto's resignation in May, Indonesia saw
such a proliferation of political parties that it was nearly
impossible to keep count. According to some people, there are now
107 political parties, while others claim there are 112 parties.

However, which parties will be eligible to contest the
elections?

The draft law proposes that to be eligible to participate in
the elections, a party must having chapters in at least half of
Indonesia's 27 provinces and branches in 50 percent of the
regencies, or they must collect one million signatures from party
members and supporters.

The requirement for one million signatures has since been
dropped by the House following criticism from new political
parties that the requirement was too stringent.

Following intense debates, the House agreed that in order to
be eligible to contest the poll, parties only need chapters in
nine provinces and branches in half of all regencies.

Through deliberations, the House agreed to drop the
stipulation that all political parties pledge their adherence to
the state ideology Pancasila. Now, political parties only have to
accept and mention Pancasila in their statutes as the "state
basis", but are free to name the ideology of their parties, so,
for example, a political party may be based on religion.

At least nine new parties have been founded on Islam. PPP took
advantage of the political opening and declared that it was
returning to its original identity as an Islamic party, and
planned to drop the star and again use the Kaaba as its symbol.

What about financial independence?

* Political parties are barred from doing business or taking
financial aid from foreign companies and countries. Their
financial sources come from members' dues, funds from the annual
state budget and donations from individuals and local businesses.

* Political parties are obliged to give annual financial
reports. They must also give financial reports to the election
committee 30 days before the general election.

* Neither the government nor the Supreme Court has the
authority to disband political parties, except in criminal or
"ideological" cases.

* The court can disband political parties that have been
proven guilty of violating the Constitution or the law, or have
been proven guilty of involvement in crimes or subversion.

* Political parties, especially ones which are unable to meet
the legal requirements to contest the general election, can be
dissolved by their own congress.

Legislative bodies

To ensure the legislative bodies' credibility, the draft law
stipulates that the majority of their members would be elected in
the general election. Only a small number of the members would be
appointed.

But, how many is "small"? And, for that matter, what is the
ideal size of the House of Representatives and the People's
Consultative Assembly?

Golkar proposed to reduce the current 1,000-seat Assembly to
700. PPP proposed 650 seats, while PDI suggested 750 seats.

According to the Constitution, the Assembly consists of House
legislators who are elected through the general election,
regional representatives and representatives of societal groups.

The current Assembly, which has admitted that it is only a
transitional body, has agreed to separate its leadership from
that of the House.

It also agreed in November that the next Assembly should
convene every year rather than once every five years as it did
under Soeharto's New Order regime.

The Assembly also agreed that the body now has the authority
to summon for hearings not only members of the executive branch,
but also members from the Supreme Audit Agency and the Supreme
Court.

Now, what about the size of the House?

The government, and the Golkar and ABRI factions proposed 550
seats for the next House, while the PPP and PDI factions want to
maintain the current number of 500 seats.

The government and the ABRI faction want 55 seats to be
reserved for appointed Armed Forces representatives, while the
Golkar faction proposed 25 seats and PPP proposed ten seats. The
PDI faction has yet to present its stance on the issue.

The Assembly in November agreed that the military presence in
the House would be reduced gradually. The House will decide on
the matter in January.