Court ruling on local polls hailed

Court ruling on local polls hailed

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Constitutional Court's decision to allow minor political
parties to nominate their own candidates in upcoming direct
regional elections was a positive contribution towards the
development of the nation's democracy, an expert has said.

Ryaas Rasyid, a professor at the Institute of Public
Administration (IIP) and a former minister of regional autonomy,
said that the decision would allow more candidates to run in the
nation's first-ever direct elections of governors, regents and
mayors.

"The Constitutional Court's ruling will give a more democratic
flavor to regional elections by allowing small parties to
nominate their own candidates," Ryaas told The Jakarta Post on
Wednesday.

"But in reality, major parties will still dominate elections
because they have the money and a larger political network among
eligible voters."

He was responding to the Court's decision on Tuesday, which
allows minor parties that do not have local council
representation to nominate candidates for the positions of
governor, major and regent, by forming coalitions with other
parties in such a way that they garner 15 percent of votes in the
legislature.

The Court made the ruling after a number of leaders of minor
parties in the regions, as well as various non-governmental
organizations (NGOs), filed a petition for a judicial review of
several contentious articles of Law No. 32/2004 concerning
regional elections.

Some 215 regions will be holding elections in June of this
year to select their executive leaders. It will be the very
first time in Indonesia that regional leaders have been directly
elected, and is seen as an important step forward in the
development of the nation's democracy.

Elsewhere, Ryaas said that the Court's decision would also
encourage pro-democracy activists to seek a judicial review of
the presidential election law in a bid to allow small parties to
also nominate their candidates for the 2009 presidential
election.

"Minor parties should be allowed to nominate their own
candidates in the next presidential elections," he said.

Ryaas, however, criticized a ruling by the Court that retains
the role of the central government in regional elections.

Certain NGOs had previously demanded that the Court annul the
central government decree on the regional elections, saying
instead that the authority to issue election regulations should
be given to the General Elections Commission, which administered
last year's presidential and legislative elections.

Activists have argued that the decree allows the President to
have a certain influence over the conduct of regional elections.

"The Constitutional Court does not touch on or solve the key
problem and, in fact, it has worsened the problem. It apparently
favored the government in this case," he said.

"It's a setback because the decree allows the executive body
(central government) to be in charge of regional elections," he
said.

Another positive decision made by the court, however, was the
scrapping of a ruling requiring the provincial office of the
General Elections Commission (KPUDs) to be responsible to local
legislative councils (DPRD). The Court ruled that the KPUDs
should instead report to the KPU.

Experts have said that forcing KPUDs to report to the DPRD,
which consists of political parties active in the elections,
would run counter to the principles of democracy.

Meanwhile, Minister of Home Affairs M. Ma'aruf said on
Wednesday that the government would draft a regulation in lieu of
law to accommodate changes in regional election regulations made
by the Constitutional Court.