ABRI seats still being disputed
JAKARTA (JP): The issue of the number of nonelected seats in the legislature the Armed Forces (ABRI) will be allocated promises to remain controversial as the Jan. 28 deadline to endorse the political bills currently being deliberated in the House of Representatives quickly approaches.
The chairman of the working committee deliberating the bill on the structure of the House, the People's Consultative Assembly and provincial and regency legislatures, claimed factions were close to an agreement on the number of nonelected seats to be allocated to the Armed Forces.
Chairman Abu Hasan Sazili said on Saturday that the United Development Party (PPP) faction had agreed to allocate five percent of the proposed 500 seats in the lower House to ABRI, up from its original proposal of two percent.
He said that Golkar proposed between a five percent and eight percent allocation, while the government and the ABRI faction proposed an eight percent allocation. The faction of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) is expected to agree with the majority on the issue.
However, on Sunday, the leader of the PPP faction in the House, Zarkasih Nur, denied such an agreement from his faction.
"No, it's not true. We agree that ABRI needs to make its presence effective in the House, but assuming that there will be 10 House commissions with two members from each faction on the commissions, it will be enough for ABRI to have 20 seats," he told The Jakarta Post.
Zarkasih said his faction would strive to reduce "to the minimum" the number of nonelected seats in the House, "for the sake of justice and to enable the produced laws to be accommodative of public aspirations."
Sazili also said PPP, ABRI and Golkar had promised "flexibility" when final discussions on the issue begin.
"We have already agreed to be flexible and accommodative on the issue," he said. "The actual number of seats for ABRI is no longer a crucial issue."
Along with the question of the political role of civil servants, the number of seats to be allocated to ABRI has proved to be an obstacle in the deliberations of the three political bills. The People's Consultative Assembly, in its special session last November, agreed to reduce gradually ABRI's presence in the House.
The decision came as the Armed Forces' reputation plummeted following revelations of atrocities and human rights violations during the 32 years of Soeharto's New Order regime. Calls for the military to limit its involvement in politics have continued to mount.
Overcome
Andi M. Mallarangeng, a member of the government team drawing up the political bills, confirmed that the House factions had overcome most difficulties as they move toward accepting the draft law.
However, he revealed that a trade-off had been arranged between the factions. PPP will yield to ABRI and Golkar on the issue of the number of seats for ABRI, in exchange for ABRI and Golkar's support in PPP's campaign to keep civil servants out of politics.
Faction leaders have agreed to drop the question of civil servants' political rights from the bill on political parties. A government decree will soon be issued on the matter.
"The government is expected to be consistent in its stance (for a neutral bureaucracy), but also flexible in handling government officials who want to be involved in political parties," he said.
"Government officials and civil servants would in general be kept neutral, and only those who have secured permission from their superiors will be allowed to be active in politics," Andi said.
The last obstacle remaining in the political bills is the question of whether voting in general elections would take place at the regency level or the provincial level. Golkar is thought to have the upper hand if House members are elected at the regency level because village chiefs constitute a strong system of support for the group -- a legacy of Golkar's role during the New Order regime.
Andi believed even this last question would be settled amicably and smoothly.
Andi, who participated in deliberations on the three political bills, expressed his optimism that the House would meet the Jan. 28 deadline for approving the bills, and that the general election would be held on June 7.
Meanwhile, Ichlasul Amal, the rector of the University of Gadjah Mada in Yogyakarta, praised the three political bills for accommodating most of the people's aspirations.
"The most importance thing is that the three bills can be passed into laws and the general election be held on time so that we may immediately set up a legitimate and democratic government," he said.
He predicted a bumpy ride for Golkar in the election, especially in the densely populated Java and Madura where "people can no longer be fooled".
"Those who live outside of Java may vote for Golkar because they have yet to realize its past sins," Amal said.
The front-runners in the election, Amal predicted, would be: Amien Rais' National Mandate Party which enjoys the support of the 28 million-strong Muhammadiyah Islamic organization; Abdurrahman Wahid's National Awakening Party which is supported by the 30 million-strong Nadhlatul Ulama organization; and the Megawati Soekarnoputri led faction of the splintered Indonesian Democratic Party. Each of these parties can be expected to win between 15 percent and 20 percent of the vote, he said. (rms/44/aan)