Bid to change election rules gets support
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)