Central govt stays clear of local elections
Direct regional elections, the first in the nation's history, will be held in 226 regional administrations nationwide this year, with the first scheduled for June 1 in Kutai Kartanegara, East Kalimantan. As the election draws near, The Jakarta Post's Tiarma Siboro spoke with Progo Nurdjaman, the secretary to the Minister of Home Affairs about the elections. Here are the excerpts:
What kind of problems do you foresee arising during the direct regional elections?
It has been mandated by Law No. 32/2004 on regional administration that the direct regional elections must be held to elect local government heads whose term of service will end this year. The role of the central government here is to help facilitate the elections.
For the year of 2005, we have proposed that lawmakers endorse our proposal that the central government disburse Rp 700 billion (US$74.5 million) to the regional General Election Commissions (KPUDs) and local administrations to hold the elections, but the legislators have only approved around Rp 400 billion. So to make up for the budget shortfall, we've already asked the Ministry of Finance to disburse some 46 percent, or about Rp 350 billion, of our initial Rp 700 billion proposal to support regions, which will hold the elections in June.
The amount of supporting funds will depend on the financial condition of each region. For those whose regional revenues are lower than others, we may allocate around 90 percent of their total election spending, while some other regions may receive only 60 percent.
The central government has also issued government regulation No. 3/2005 in lieu of Law No. 32/2004 in case that some regions fail to stick to their schedules set for the elections.
The regulation rules that an election can be delayed if, for instance, a natural disaster occurs or the regional commissions lack the necessary funds.
Based on the regulation, the delay of the gubernatorial elections must be approved by the president, while the delay of municipal/regental elections must be approved by the home minister. However, any delay must first be approved by the local KPUD and local councillors.
How about any legal problems?
If legal problems persist during the election, for example, one candidate, or his/her support party, violates the election law, it will be the task of the regional KPU to solve it. The central government will not intervene.
What will the regional KPU's have to deal with?
The regional KPU may face the problem in determining whether certain candidates are qualified to enter the election race. The regional KPU is facing a daunting task, as currently many political parties are plagued with internal disputes that will affect several candidates.
For example, several persons claim that they are really executives of a certain political party's chapter or branch while other persons claim the same thing. It will lead to confusion as to which persons are really branch or chapter executives. It will be difficult for the regional KPU to determine which group of party executives is actually eligible to nominate candidates.
Regional KPUs have to be aware of this.
Has the government done anything to avert security disturbances that may occur in conflict-prone regions?
God willing, security disturbances will not happen during any of the elections. Security is the police's domain, and the Indonesian Military (TNI) will only provide assistance if the police fail to ensure security.
In the case of Papua province, many have asked whether the province can proceed with the elections because the establishment of Papuan People's Council (MRP) as mandated by the Autonomy Law for Papua is yet to be implemented. But we actually have agreed to give the local councils the authority to select the candidates in a bid to avoid delays. The agreement is stipulated by government regulation No. 6/2005.