Direct presidential election seen for 2004

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja and Abu Hanifah, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Indonesians will most likely elect their president and vice president directly in 2004 as all factions at the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), the country's highest legislative body, have agreed to adopt the direct presidential election system.

Assembly Speaker Amien Rais said that all factions had agreed to adopt a direct presidential election, and would debate the remaining technicalities during the Assembly's 10-day Annual Session, which begins on Thursday.

"There is a great possibility that the article on a direct presidential election will be endorsed," Amien Rais told the media after attending a meeting of Assembly factions.

"This is a great leap forward because the people will have chosen a president and a vice president either from a political party or from a certain group. We should be grateful for that," Amien added.

Amien said, however, that further discussions on the election's technicalities would be discussed with the Assembly's ad hoc committees.

He did not elaborate on whether or not the discussion could be resolved during the coming Annual Session.

Separately, Jacob Tobing, the chairman of Ad Hoc Committee I, which is preparing the constitutional amendment, said nothing could hamper the process toward the direct presidential election for 2004.

"It is certain that in 2004 we are going to have a new electoral system; that is, the direct presidential election. And we are hoping we can decide on the details of the procedure in the Annual Session," Jacob told The Jakarta Post.

He said that there were currently two options for the direct presidential election procedures that had won support from the Assembly factions.

The first option, which is supported by the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) faction, will allow the people to directly choose one of two pairs of presidential and vice presidential candidates from the two political parties that win the majority vote in the general election.

However, should the winning pair fail to secure 51 percent of the total vote, then the People's Consultative Assembly would select one of the pairs.

"The idea behind this concept is to avoid the possibility of a prolonged process," he said.

The second option, which has gained support from the Golkar Party faction, proposes that the election be repeated if none of the pairs win 51 percent of the vote.

Jacob said the two options received almost the same amount of support from Assembly members. "So it is very possible that if we cannot reach an agreement over the procedure, we'll have to postpone it until next year," he remarked.

However, he expressed confidence that the first option would gain more support and the entire constitutional amendment would be finalized at the Annual Session.

Jacob dismissed speculation that the first option would allow the Assembly to retain its "superpower" authority over all institutions in the country.

"In our proposal, the Assembly will act as an electoral council, and it will not have the authority to demand the president's accountability," Jacob said.

Meanwhile, Amien noted that the issue of whether to maintain the powerful Assembly or transform it into a bicameral legislature would also be debated during the Annual Session.

"I can't say anything about this as it will be discussed at the session. But one thing for sure is that if we proceed with that, there will be major changes to regulations," Amien said.

If the proposal is approved, the Assembly will consist of two chambers, the House of Representatives and the Representatives of Regional Councils (DPD).

Amien said the Assembly would not push itself to amend articles considered crucial, adding that it would resolve it at the next Annual Session.

"Crucial articles need to be thoroughly studied. We will not insist on voting to enact the articles because there is a possibility that we may make the wrong decision, whereas we still have another year to think about it," Amien said.