Communism debate delays political parties bill

Communism debate delays political parties bill

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post,
Jakarta

The House of Representatives (DPR) on Tuesday postponed the
endorsement of the bill on political parties until Thursday as
legislators failed to reach agreement on including a decree
banning communism in the preamble to the bill.

Speaking during a plenary meeting on Tuesday, House deputy
speaker A.M. Fatwa revealed that the House leadership had
received a letter from the special committee deliberating the
bill requesting that its endorsement be postponed.

"The bill (on political parties) will now be endorsed on Nov.
28," Fatwa added.

Separately, the chairman of the special committee deliberating
the bill, Yahya Zaini, confirmed that he had given committee
members time to consult with their factions over the remaining
unsettled issues.

He added that the committee members would then report the
results of their consultations to the committee on Wednesday and
the committee would once again debate the issue later on the same
day.

Yahya emphasized that the subject of disagreement among the
committee members was not the substance of the bill but rather
its preamble.

All the factions, except the largest faction, the Indonesian
Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan), agreed to include
two decrees of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) on the
outlawing of communism and annual reports by state institutions
respectively in the bill's preamble.

The two decrees are Assembly Decree XXV/MPRS/1966 on the
dissolution of the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) and the
outlawing of communism and Marxism/Leninism, and TAP X/MPR/2001
on annual reports by state institutions.

A PDI Perjuangan official insisted on Tuesday that it would be
counterproductive for the bill to incorporate the two Assembly
decrees.

"There is a debate between the government and the House
regarding the use of Assembly decrees as a legal basis for laws,"
the party's deputy secretary-general Pramono Anung said after the
party's weekly meeting.

He said that the party was stressing the fact that after 2003
Assembly decrees would no longer be valid, and the new electoral
system to be introduced in 2004 would make such decrees even more
irrelevant.

"That's why we should not include these decrees in the bill as
they could create difficulties regarding its implementation.

"We are not rejecting the contents of the bill, but simply
want to remove the Assembly decrees as legal bases for the bill,"
Pramono added.

Key points of the political parties bill

According to the bill, all political parties must register
themselves with the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights. The
General Elections Commission will then examine the administrative
and other requirements to see whether they are qualified to
contest the 2004 elections.

The commission will also be responsible for assessing their
financial soundness and campaign fund reports.

Then, the Ministry of Home Affairs assesses possible
violations of the rules on funding, and the ideology of the
political parties.

Key articles:

Article 12:

A member of a political party who becomes a member of the House
of Representatives can be dismissed from the House if:

a. his membership of the party comes to an end or he joins
another political party; or

b. he is dismissed from his party for violating the party's
rules; or

c. he breaks the law leading to his dismissal from his party.

Article 18:

(1) Donations from members and non-members must not exceed Rp 200
million (US$22,200) in one year.

(2) Donations from companies and enterprises must not exceed Rp
800 million in one year. (with the exception of state companies,
and local government-owned companies).

Article 28:

(1) Anyone who donates more than Rp 200 million to a political
party faces two month's in prison or a Rp 200 million fine.

(2) A party executive who accepts a donation exceeding the set
limit faces six month's in jail or a Rp 500 million fine.