Debate over secret ballot continues

JAKARTA (JP): Two constitutional law experts discussed the benefits and shortcomings of a secret ballot and open ballot in the upcoming presidential election.

Speaking at a seminar on the presidency on Wednesday, Harun Alrasid of the University of Indonesia said it was time for a secret ballot in which individual members of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) would have the freedom to vote for a presidential candidate independent of their respective factions.

"In the reform era, it is no longer relevant to use the factional system in the presidential election. A president should be elected by the 700 MPR members with a majority of the votes," he said during the seminar at the House of Representatives. This would ensure the legitimacy of the president, he said.

Previously, the president was elected by the Assembly based on the factional system. Apart from party-based factions from the House of Representatives, the MPR includes 200 unelected regional and interest group representatives. These representatives include governors, who are mostly from the military, and military commanders.

In the next Assembly there will be an additional 38 unelected representatives from the military.

Both Harun and another constitutional law expert, Muchsan, agreed there should no longer be unelected representatives in the MPR. In the past, these representatives were suspected of being appointed based on their willingness to support the incumbent government.

However, Muchsan, who teaches at Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta, said a secret ballot could lead to legislators "betraying" their constituencies.

"People have indirectly voted for a presidential candidate in the general election because their parties announced their presidential candidates before the polls," Muchsan said.

He said an open ballot was more ideal, adding that with an open ballot there was less risk of legislators' votes being bought.

"Besides avoiding money politics in the presidential election, the open ballot system will give space and time for MPR members to elect a president openly, democratically and fairly," he said.

He said that with an open system, it would be difficult, but not impossible, for MPR members to vote differently from their factions in the presidential election.

"With this system, a MPR member should be allowed to have a different opinion from his/her faction but he/she should state a solid reason for doing this," he said.

On Monday, the secretary-general of the National Awakening Party, Muhaimin Iskandar, said that with a secret ballot it was possible Muslim factions within the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) would not vote for the party's candidate, chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri.

A number of Muslim leaders have said that only male Muslims should be eligible for the presidency. Muhaimin said the freedom afforded by a secret ballot was an advantage, but the possibility of bribing legislators to vote for a certain candidate would be greater.

Harun said voting in the presidential election could be influenced by money politics, but hoped this would be avoided if all MPR members were "committed to the public's aspirations".

Harun said the presence of appointed members in the MPR would make it difficult for the party which won the general election to determine the next president.

"We will have 238 nonelected MPR members and they will have great bargaining power in the presidential election because no party is expected to win a majority in the (general) election," he said.

Muchsan said the appointment of MPR members should either be phased out or reduced to a minimum.

The two experts, together with Ramlan Surbakti, a political lecturer from Airlangga University in Surabaya, East Java, said at the seminar that amending the 1945 Constitution, which gave too much power to the president, was necessary.

Ramlan said the Constitution had been widely abused during the 30-year New Order regime and it was no longer relevant to the country's situation.

He said an amendment was needed to avoid misinterpretations and to limit presidential power.

Harun said the Constitution, hurriedly prepared ahead of the Aug. 17, 1945, declaration of independence, was designed as a temporary document.

Meanwhile, House of Representatives Deputy Speaker Hari Sabarno said the House and the government had not yet decided when the House would deliberate the proposed bill on the presidency. "The House is waiting for public opinion and comments from experts."

He denied suggestions that the aim of the bill was to block Megawati's presidential aspirations.

The proposed bill stipulates, among other things, the president should have at least a university education, which would bar Megawati from the presidency.

Muchsan and Ramlan said the current House would not have enough time to deliberate the bill because new members of the House would be installed in August. (rms)