Cetro warns of political chaos ahead of elections
Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The Center for Electoral Reform (Cetro) warned Monday of increasing political tension in 2003 as political parties were tending towards manipulating the government's decision to increase fuel prices and raise telephone and electricity tariffs.
Trade unions, business people, students and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have strongly opposed the move and threatened to launch massive street rallies to force the government to reverse its decision.
On Monday, over 1,000 students and NGO activists took to the streets in Jakarta to demand the government annul the price hikes. Similar protests took place in Surabaya in East Java, Makassar in South Sulawesi, Bandung in West Java, and other cities on the islands of Sumatra and Java.
Cetro said that political tension could worsen as political laws needed for the 2004 general elections had not yet been completed.
"This could lead to a very volatile situation ahead of the 2004 elections," Centro activist Bambang Widjojanto said here on Monday. Uncontrolled anti-hike protests would lead to political chaos, he warned.
Bambang, who was accompanied by fellow Cetro activists Todung Mulya Lubis, Hadar N. Gumay and Ani W. Soetjipto, said such confusion could easily be exploited to undermine the leadership of President Megawati Soekarnoputri to create political uncertainty.
Persistent conflicts among political leaders, said Bambang, would heighten people's distrust of the political elite.
The government simultaneously increased fuel prices, electricity tariffs and telephone rates last Wednesday, considered necessary to finance the country's 2003 State Budget.
Meanwhile, Todung said that the five major political parties taking part in the deliberation of political bills had established a consensus that the bills should benefit themselves and curtail the rights of minor political parties.
The five parties are: the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan), the Golkar Party, the United Development Party (PPP), the National Awakening Party (PKB) and the National Mandate Party (PAN).
"Our democracy is in danger because major parties are conspiring to defend their positions," Todung said.
Pointing to the draft of the presidential and vice presidential election, Todung said that only the five major political parties were allowed to name candidates.
Hadar N. Gumay has commented that such a regulation was undemocratic.
He added that this regulation would only pave the way for candidates from major parties to compete in the elections and prevent candidates of minor parties from taking part.
Meanwhile, Ani W. Soetjipto focused on the failure of legislators to include a 30-percent quota in strategic positions for women.
Ani said the inability to include this quota was because there were only a few female legislators participating in the deliberation of the political party bill.
Of the 50 members of the House's special committee for the deliberation of the political party bill, only 5 legislators were women.
"With only a minimum number of female legislators, it was difficult to fight for our proposal," Ani said.
At least four political laws are needed to organize the general elections in 2004, but so far, only one of them, the political party law, has been passed.
Three other bills on the general elections, the composition of legislative bodies, and the presidential and vice presidential elections, will be discussed this month.