Bid to change election rules gets support

JAKARTA (JP): General elections will be run fairly only when they are jointly organized by the government and the political parties, two leading political scientists said over the weekend.

Maswadi Rauf of the state-run University of Indonesia and Muhammad A.S. Hikam of the National Institute of Sciences said in a House of Representatives discussion, that the minor role played by the parties caused cheating throughout all stages of the elections.

"Election rules that have exempted political parties from taking part in the organizing of the polls over the past 30 years are simply intended to help the ruling Golkar win," Maswadi said.

The discussion was led by the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) faction in the People's Consultative Assembly.

PDI and its fellow minority faction the United Development Party (PPP) have demanded the Assembly amend a decree on general elections it established in 1988.

Deliberation on the proposal is expected to run from today until Thursday.

The 1988 decree states that the President has the authority to hold general elections, the two parties -- PPP and PDI -- and the functional group -- Golkar -- are to supervise and carry out the elections.

But all government officials, the civil service, who organize the elections, are affiliate with Golkar.

PDI and PPP have repeatedly drawn attention to irregularities during the election processes -- spanning from registration of voters to ballot counting.

They insist general elections be jointly organized by the President and the three parties.

Maswadi said government-controlled election rules contributed to their being only a half-hearted eradication of corruption, collusion and nepotism.

"A fair general election would give the public room to ask for government accountability. People who have the freedom to vote will not support a corrupt ruling party," he said.

Golkar

Maswadi criticized the election rules for categorizing Golkar a "functional group" instead of a political party although it carries out the same functions as PPP and PDI.

"The distinction has given the public the impression that the two minority political parties are enemies. It seems like a systematic attempt to weaken political parties," he said.

In a law on Golkar and political parties, Golkar -- short for Golongan Karya -- is defined as a functional group and a contestant of general elections.

Hikam said the election rules were the product of past national consensus which gave the government a mandate to take action for the sake of political stability.

The government's rule on the number of political parties allowed to exist was made in the first years of the New Order era and was acceptable then for security reasons, he said.

The government reduced the number to three in 1973, forcing the Moslem parties to merge into PPP and Nationalist and Christian parties to unite under the PDI banner.

"Now that the New Order is very strong, a policy that minimizes the roles of political parties is no longer legitimate," Hikam said.

"The election rules have failed to improve the quality of the people's representatives. Everybody knows they serve the ruling elite rather than their constituents," he said.

Golkar has won each of the six five-yearly elections held since the New Order was established.

It scored a record 74 percent of the vote in this year's May 27 general election.

Hikam suggested the government initiate a total reform of the country's political format in accordance with the 1945 Constitution which acknowledges people's freedom to speak and to choose their political affiliation.

"Reviewing election rules alone is not enough because general elections are only a small part of the political chain," he said. (amd)