Golkar irate over scholar's remark

Golkar irate over scholar's remark

JAKARTA (JP): A top executive in the ruling Golkar is furious
with academic Mochtar Pabottingi for calling President Soeharto's
New Order an "emergency" government.

Pinantun Hutasoit, a deputy Golkar chair, said the current
administration cannot be considered an emergency government
because President Soeharto sticks to the 1945 Constitution.

"Anyone who considers the New Order government to be an
emergency one must have a sick mind (sinting), especially when
they don't have clear reasoning," Hutasoit was quoted by Antara
as saying Thursday.

Hutasoit was responding to Mochtar's remarks during a hearing
with members of the House of Representatives Commission X on
Wednesday.

Mochtar leads a team of researchers from the Indonesian
Institute of Sciences, which was appointed by the President to
conduct research on the most suitable electoral system for
Indonesia.

While the research is nearly complete, he declined to go into
specifics. The study found that, ideally, Indonesia should adopt
a "district" electoral system, in which voters choose figures to
represent them in the House. The system, the study found, is
theoretically better than the current "proportional" system in
which people vote for the contesting political parties, which
will select the representatives for voters.

But Mochtar noted that such a change would require the
political readiness of Indonesians in general. He also noted that
the implementation of any electoral system would depend on the
policy of the New Order government "which is emergency in
nature." Mochtar did not elaborate.

President Soeharto replaced president Sukarno's "Old Order"
government, which some considered a "deviation" from the 1945
Constitution.

"The New Order government implements the Constitution as
properly as possible. Any opinion that it is an emergency
government should be straightened out," Hutasoit said.

"Besides, all laws are made together with the House and the
People's Consultative Assembly," he added.

Hutasoit said that Golkar, as the dominant political
organization, is ready to accept any electoral system that
Indonesia adopts.

"If the district system is adopted, Golkar will be even more
dominant because the organization has a lot of well-known figures
in the provinces that voters can choose to represent them," he
said.

He added, however, that Golkar would not insist on instituting
a district system if the United Development Party and the
Indonesian Democratic Party were to reject it. (pan)