Experts split on House rule changes

Experts split on House rule changes

SEMARANG (JP): The controversy deepened yesterday over the
Indonesian Democratic Party's (PDI) reported plan to relinquish
the handful of House of Representatives' seats it won in the
election.

Legal observers were split as to whether there were legal
grounds for such a move and whether the House's internal rules
would have to be revised should the exodus take place.

Satjipto Rahardjo of the state-run Diponegoro University said
here yesterday no changes in internal House rules would be needed
because of the PDI's under-representation in the House.

But constitutional law expert Mohammad Mahfud, and Muladi, the
rector of Diponegoro University joined the bandwagon of experts
calling for a rules adjustment in a bid to avoid deadlocks in the
House's decision-making process.

The House's internal rules, adopted in 1983, stipulate that
each meeting and decision in the House's 11 commissions must
involve all three parties and the military faction.

Golkar, the United Development Party (PPP) and PDI contested
the May 29 election for 425 of the 500 House seats. The remaining
seats go to the Armed Forces, whose members do not vote.

PDI, under government-recognized chairman Soerjadi, managed to
secure only 3.06 percent of the national vote, giving them 10
House seats, its worst ever election performance and one short of
being able to have a representative on each commission.

The party failed to win any House seats in 19 provinces,
denying chairman Soerjadi and his secretary-general Buttu Hutapea
places in the legislative body.

Satjipto said the PDI's poor performance was caused by the
people's rejection of the party. "We can't do anything but
appreciate how people voted," he said.

He said the House's decision-making processes would be
affected by PDI's under-representation, but that it would still
be able to function.

House Speaker Wahono said Wednesday that current members of
the legislative body should make internal rules changes the top
priority before their five-year term ends on Sept. 30, one day
before their successors are installed by the Chief Justice.

Wahono did not comment specifically on the PDI case, but said
the rules could "be expanded in anticipation of future
challenges."

Both Muladi and Mahfud suggested the incoming House members
drop the clause requiring a minimum faction representation and
add a clause allowing a faction to assign its members to more
than one commission.

"There's nothing wrong with the imbalanced distribution of
House seats, but the House must change its internal rules if it
does not want to break them," said Mahfud. (har/amd)