Bill empowers political parties to oust dissenting legislators

Bill empowers political parties to oust dissenting legislators

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

In yet another sign of a return to New Order policies, the
government is now drafting a bill that will give more power to
political parties to expel non-conformist legislators from the
House of Representatives, likely quelling opposition voices, an
essential ingredient in a healthy democracy.

Speaking to reporters after a limited Cabinet meeting
discussing political bills, Minister of Home Affairs Hari Sabarno
explained that the bill on the rank and position of legislators
and regional representative members would allow political parties
to withdraw their members from the legislature for any perceived
offense.

The draft law required House members to surrender their seats
should the party they represent fire them.

At present, a House member may retain his or her seat despite
having been fired by his/her political party.

Hartono Mardjono and Abdul Kadir Jaelani are those who still
occupy their legislature seats despite being dismissed by their
party, the Crescent Star Party. They are now independent
legislators, not affiliated with any faction at the House.

The draft law would effectively be another step back toward
the policies of the New Order era, in which political parties
were allowed to change their members whenever they considered it
necessary, which was criticized by the reform movement as
quashing any dissenting or opposition voices.

Hari also said that the bill would require the establishment
of an honorary committee to supervise the performance and conduct
of legislators.

"The honorary committee may take stern measures against
lawmakers who have violated the code of conduct (for
legislators). But, there is a chance for them to defend
themselves before the committee," he explained.

In addition, Hari said the limited Cabinet meeting also
discussed a presidential bill, and the bill would be deliberated
separately with the general election bill, currently under debate
by the lawmakers.

"The general election is for legislators, the presidential
election for presidents, so it's better to separate them," said
Minister of Home Affairs Hari Sabarno on Thursday after a Cabinet
meeting discussing the presidential election draft law.

Hari added that despite the separate bills, the general
election would still consist of one ballot to vote for political
parties and the president.

Voters here will, for the first time ever, be allowed to
directly elect the president in 2004. But the laws to allow
election organizers to start preparing have yet to be finalized.

The General Election Commission (KPU) demanded the laws be
ready by the end of this year at the latest. Having said earlier
that it needed two years to properly organize the election slated
for June or July 2004, KPU must now settle with less than one
and-a-half years of preparation.

But Hari assured the KPU that the government would meet the
deadline. "We have our target for passing the bills, and we won't
hamper the KPU from meeting their target."

Also crucial to the 2004 election is the deliberation of the
political parties bill which will define the criteria of what
constitutes a party, its rights and obligations.

Also discussed was the status of the People's Consultative
Assembly (MPR) which before the recent amendments to the
Constitution was the country's highest law-making body.

A coalition of non-government organizations (NGOs), also
weighed in on the new political laws, and proposed on Thursday
that parties should be able to receive more money.

The NGOs said they wanted to raise the ceiling for campaign
funds to Rp 5 billion (about US$568,000) from Rp 500 million for
donations from companies or organizations, and to Rp 1 billion
from Rp 50 million for donations from individuals.

Indonesia's difficult archipelagic geography made campaigning
a costly effort, the coalition reasoned. It was speaking before
the House's special committee that is drafting the general
election bill.

They were quick to add, however, that with more money there
would have to be tighter scrutiny on the flow of campaign funds.
Among the measures suggested was for parties to set up a special
campaign-only bank account to separate the cashflow with those of
the party's day-to-day operations.

The coalition included Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW), the
Indonesian Institute of Legal Aid Foundation, the Indonesian
Environment Forum (Walhi), and the Center for Electoral Reforms
(Cetro).