Golkar rejects PDI call to amend electoral laws

Golkar rejects PDI call to amend electoral laws

JAKARTA (JP): The government-backed Golkar political
organization has flexed its muscles by rejecting calls from the
minority Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) for political reforms,
including changes in the electoral laws.

Leaders of Golkar faction in the House of Representatives
(DPR) yesterday vowed to crush any attempt to alter the present
political format.

Faction leaders told a press conference that their rival
political organizations are free to propose amendments which the
dominant ruling group would be equally free to block.

"The smooth elections in the past showed that the law is still
relevant and there is no reason to even think about amending it,"
faction chairman Mustahid Astari said.

Calls for changes in the election laws resurfaced again as the
three contesting political organizations, Golkar, the United
Development Party (PPP) and Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) are
bracing for the 1997 election.

PDI and PPP have openly tried again to seek amendment of laws
on the general election in the upcoming five-yearly sessions of
the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) in the run-up to the
1998 presidential election.

Their bid to seek political reforms, including alterations in
the election law, during the 1993 MPR assembly was blocked by the
Golkar-Armed Forces (ABRI) alliance.

In the latest maneuver to renew the pressure to review the
law, the Petisi 50, a group of staunch critics of the government,
provoked the minority PDI on Thursday not to ease its push for a
political overhaul to promote democracy.

PPP and PDI want more say in the election process, including
co-sponsoring it, which is currently "monopolized" by the
government.

Press reports

Mustahid said that although there have been a great many press
reports on the increasing demand for political reform, no
political party has made a proposal to the DPR leadership.

The press briefing was held to evaluate recent political,
social and economic issues from the Golkar viewpoint before the
House closes the current session today.

The legislators were besieged by questions about Golkar's
stance on the continued banning of seminars and art shows, a
policy widely seen as restricting the freedom of expression
guaranteed by the Constitution.

Mustahid, who assumed his post in August following a
reshuffle, said Golkar supported the ban on seminars and art
performances which were held without the authorities' permits.

He argued that the law requires a permit for the assembly of
groups of more than five people.

The briefing burst into laughter when a journalist asked why
Golkar should defend the unpopular law on subversion even though
it is public knowledge that the rule was drafted by D.N. Aidit, a
senior leader of the defunct Indonesian Communist Party (PKI).

"I reject the rationale that by maintaining the (subversion)
law, the state is communist," he said. "By the same token, many
of our laws are made by the colonial administration and yet we
can use them without being colonialist," he said.

Mustahid dismissed as untrue press reports that Golkar's
executive board was out to crack down on its legislators
considered "too critical" of the government.

What happened is that the Golkar faction chief is given more
authority to supervise its legislators. Under the new policy, the
chairman has the authority to recommend dismissal, he said.

He denied news that Golkar would sack 12 of its 282 House
members for being "too outspoken." (pan)