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.