Election image needs improving: Rudini
JAKARTA (JP): A truly fair and honest general election next year will help dispel the growing popular perception that the event is a mere formality to justify the inveterate rule of the status quo, former home minister Rudini said yesterday.
"Given the many deficiencies and weaknesses listed by various members of the public, including political parties, many are of the opinion that past elections have not been fully effective in constructing a democratic political order," the retired Army general said.
Speaking at a seminar at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Rudini said that while the legal mechanisms concerning elections were quite sufficient, their implementation still left much to be desired.
"The government must be able to dispel the image that the electoral process is just a way of fulfilling constitutional formalities," he remarked.
Discontent at the electoral process has manifested itself in the formation of various independent election monitoring committees, which the government has brushed off as being superfluous.
Rudini said that certain "suspicious" practices of past elections have motivated increasing demands for a better election.
"Why have these demands recently gotten stronger? For no other reason than because of the people's belief that there is something wrong in the field," he charged.
He pointed to the alliance of the civil servant corps with the ruling Golkar faction as one factor which diminishes trust and creates wariness.
Noting that many other organizations have blatantly instructed members to support a particular political party, Rudini said this practice is a clear neglect of a general election's hallowed principles. "With such an instruction the principles of the voter's free choice and secrecy evaporate," he said.
In his presentation, political scientist J. Soedjati Djiwandono slammed the so-called "special screening" ahead of the election, saying that the practice is filtering out potentially critical legislators.
The screening is conducted by the military on every candidate for the House of Representatives and the regional legislative councils. It is intended to weed out those with possible past communist links.
Soedjati maintained that the screening had effectively blunted the House of Representatives and made legislators devoid of all political independence.
Juwono Sudarsono, deputy governor of the National Resilience Institute, while acknowledging the necessity of the screening, said that it should not be conducted too often.
The government should not be overly harsh in punishing someone whose relative or forefather is a suspected communist, he said.
One should not be blamed for caring for a relative who is reputedly a communist supporter, Juwono remarked.
Separately, Armed Forces Chief for Sociopolitical Affairs Lt. Gen. Syarwan Hamid asserted that all prospective legislators for next year's general elections should be examined.
"The special screening is mainly meant to filter candidates so that only loyal and devoted legislators are elected," Syarwan told reporters after attending the opening ceremony of a seminar, held at the armed forcers headquarters yesterday.
"We do not want people to elect candidates whose mind and principles are against the state ideology Pancasila," he added.
The three political groups contesting the elections are expected to submit their completed lists of candidates for the House by Sept. 16. The screening process will be held from Sept. 17 to Oct. 31. (imn/mds)