Assembly likely to approve direct presidential election

JAKARTA (JP): The highest law-making body is set to amend two key legislations in the near future.

Five major factions of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) on Wednesday threw their weight behind the proposed district system for the general election and direct presidential election.

This is a major shift from the current proportional system and indirect presidential election in which the president is elected by the Assembly.

The five factions include the Golkar Party, United Development Party (PPP), National Mandate Party and the Crescent Star Party (PBB). The factions want to approve the legislations in the MPR annual session scheduled for Nov. 1.

Spokesman for the Golkar faction, Rully Chairul Azwar, said he hoped the proposed amendments to the Constitution's chapters on the general election, presidential election and MPR's composition were approved during the session.

"It is urgent because most people know that the MPR has agreed to holding a direct presidential election and the district electoral system," he said in an ad hoc subcommittee meeting on Wednesday.

Rully urged the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) faction, the largest faction in the Assembly, to join other factions in approving the district electoral system and the direct presidential election in 2004.

"The annual session will approve the amendment if the PDI Perjuangan faction accepts it," he said.

Lukman Syaifuddin, spokesman for the PPP faction, said however, that time was running short for the government and the House of Representatives (DPR) to review the 1999 political laws and for the General Elections Commission (KPU) to disseminate the new electoral system, unless the proposed amendment was written into the Constitution.

"MPR will have to race against time to allow a necessary review of the political laws and the dissemination of the new electoral system and direct presidential election," he said.

The government and the DPR need at least three months to amend the political laws while the KPU needs two years to disseminate the district electoral system and direct presidential election.

Responding to the factions' suggestion on a direct presidential election, PDI Perjuangan said it wanted to maintain the Assembly's role in electing the president, or at least to formalize the results of the presidential election.

Haryono, a spokesman for PDI Perjuangan, warned other factions of political implications if the district electoral system and direct presidential election were written into the Constitution.

"Our faction wants to maintain the present proportional system in the general election and the Assembly's task to at least formalize the results of the presidential election," he said.

However, he said that his faction supported the proposal to revamp the Assembly.

"All legislators and regional representatives must be elected through the general election," he said.

Slamet Effendy Yusuf of the Golkar faction said the ongoing amendment process was proceeding far too slowly because the PDI Perjuangan faction had been conservative on the amendment.

"It has been under way since November 1999, but except for several chapters, the deliberation of the important issues has been suspended," he said.

Citing an example, he said the subcommittee had deliberated on two issues of the Assembly's composition and tasks and the presidential election for over two months without any results.

Hamdan Zoelva, the spokesman for the PBB faction, agreed and added that the public would know which parties were truly supporting the reform movement and were committed to upholding democracy.

He said the Assembly could not make any changes without the support of the PDI Perjuangan faction, which occupies more than one-third of the seats in the Assembly.

Assembly decisions are valid if they receive the support of at least two-thirds of its 700 members. (rms)