Debate over secret ballot continues

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)