Campaing rules flaws threatan elections

Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The government has drafted a campaign regulation that will ban top state officials, including the President and her ministers, from using state facilities during the election campaign, but analysts said the regulation was rife with defects.

Minister of Home Affairs Hari Sabarno said on Wednesday that any top state officials found guilty of misusing state facilities during the campaign would be ordered to desist.

"They will be told to stop doing this immediately if they are found to be using state facilities," he told the press after inaugurating 24 new regencies and municipalities here.

The minister said the draft regulation would be brought to a Cabinet meeting scheduled for next Monday.

The campaign regulation, the minister said, would encourage state officials to use funds from their respective parties for the campaign, rather than state funds.

The current government comprises ministers from various political parties. President Megawati Soekarnoputri chairs the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, Vice President Hamzah Haz leads the United Development Party and most other cabinet ministers either chair or are members of political parties.

In the country's supreme legislative organ, the People's Consultative Assembly, speaker Amien Rais chairs the National Mandate Party, while House of Representatives speaker Akbar Tandjung holds the top job in the Golkar Party.

These top state officials will also be contesting the presidential election.

Separately, Bambang Widjojanto of the Partnership for Governance Reform said that the new campaign regulation must be packed up by severe penalties for offenders.

Bambang said the regulation should stipulate that state officials who were found guilty of misusing state facilities or funds during the campaign must be fined a sum equivalent to the value of the state facilities they made use of.

"There must be strict punishments for such offenses. Otherwise, we may rest assured that state officials will continue to misuse state facilities," he told The Jakarta Post.

Without strict penalties, he said, the parties that had representatives in state institutions would take advantage of their advantageous positions to the detriment of the newer and smaller parties.

Bambang also said he was concerned about conflicting statements from officials regarding violations of campaign regulations.

He said there was a divergence of views between the General Elections Commission (KPU) and the Election Supervisory Commission (Panwaslu) on the issue, and this could lead to confusion in the National Police, the institution that is responsible for enforcing electoral law.

"There are no clear definitions of a campaign, the nature of a campaign, or the time frame of a campaign," he said.

Citing the Election Supervisory Commission, Bambang said the recent gatherings held by the National Awakening Party (PKB) and the United Development Party (PPP) should be categorized as premature, illegal campaigning.

However, Article 2 of the KPU regulation on the election campaign defines a campaign as an effort aimed at convincing non- party members to vote for the party by publicizing its manifesto through the mass media, in public places or at meetings during the period designated by the KPU.

"If the KPU decides the PKB and PPP gatherings did not constitute premature campaigning, other parties will follow suit. This will be like opening a Pandora's Box," Bambang said.