Experts lament failure on direct election
Experts lament failure on direct election
Muhammad Nafik and Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Political observers lashed out on Saturday at the country's highest legislature for failing to reach an agreement on constitutional reforms to adopt a direct presidential election, which has been a popular issue among the public.
They said all 700 members of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) had ignored the public's aspirations and placed their own political interests first.
"It has failed to respond to the wishes of the people. It has been a disappointing decision. Members of the MPR are still fighting for the narrow interests of their own groups," noted scholar Azyumardi Azra.
He said the failure to agree on a direct presidential election would create further political uncertainty, which had been worsened by unclear policies aimed at restoring peace and security.
Azyumardi, rector of Jakarta's Syarif Hidayatullah State Institute for Islamic Studies (IAIN), said the MPR's decision would hamper the National Election Commission's (KPU) efforts to draw up guidelines for general polls in 2004.
The MPR wrapped up its nine-day Annual Session on Friday evening, having decided to postpone debates until next year on the fundamental issues of direct presidential elections and the new composition of the Assembly.
In principle, all factions in the Assembly had agreed to allow voters to elect the president in a direct ballot, but were divided on how to do it if the presidential and vice presidential candidates could not win by a simple majority.
Most factions have agreed to the idea to hold a second round of the direct presidential election if the candidates won less than 50 percent of the votes, but President Megawati Soekarnoputri's Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) wanted the final mechanism left to the MPR to decide.
Also lamenting the MPR's decision was another political analyst Fachry Ali who saw the possible practice of money politics behind the failure to agree on the constitutional reforms.
"It's regretful. The most substantial issue to be discussed at the Annual Session should have been the presidential election. Since there has not been any decision, there should be no more such meetings," he told The Jakarta Post.
However, he could not say whether the political interests of each faction in the Assembly had prompted the postponement of discussions on the mechanism of next presidential elections.
Fachry said the poor constitutional rules on the presidential elections had been a contributing factor to the prevailing political uncertainty and the threat of social disintegration. "The issue should have been a priority."
He also questioned the agreement by the Assembly to hold a second round of the presidential election if the candidates could not win a simple majority. "I don't understand why there should be a second election."
He said that in normal electoral procedures, the candidate, who won the first round of a presidential election, should be inaugurated as the president. "There is no need for a second round."
Noted constitutional law expert Harun Al Rasyid also voiced his disappointment over the Assembly's decision to delay deliberating the crucial articles of the 1945 Constitution.
"I do not see any strong reason why the MPR has postponed decisions on the constitutional amendments," he told the Post.
Harun also questioned the MPR's move to avoid a voting mechanism to decide whether to go ahead with debates on the constitutional reforms or delay them until next year's Annual Session.
"Why did they avoid the voting mechanism again? Voting is a constitutional way to take a decision," Harun, of the University of Indonesia, told the Post.
He said the nation's top legislative body had taken a wrong step at the beginning when it abandoned the early process of constitutional amendment, although legislators knew the Constitution contained many fundamental loopholes and required major changes.
Harun, who was appointed by ousted president Abdurrahman Wahid to lead a government amendment team earlier this year, said the Assembly should have set up a constitutional commission in 1999 to create a new constitution to replace the current one.
According to him, even though it was too late now to form a constitutional commission, the MPR should have speeded up the amendment process and taken the courageous decision to change the outdated Constitution.
"If they still have no courage to make a decision through a voting mechanism, they are like the MPR during Soeharto's New Order era. The public are disappointed as they are waiting for concrete results from the Assembly's sessions," Harun added.