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.