Govt mulls new bill on presidential election

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The government would likely submit to the legislature a set of "rules" for the presidential election under a separate bill, on advise from legal experts, who claimed this would be a faster way to meet the 2004 general election deadline, a government official said on Monday.

However, the government would still agree to hold a round of elections to elect both the legislature and the president, said I Nyoman Sumaryadi a spokesman from the Ministry of Home Affairs whose team is drafting the election rules.

He said the submission of the two separate bills was aimed at speeding up the draft process and it would also allow President Megawati Soekarnoputri two alternatives to choose from.

One option, is that the rules for a direct presidential election would be inserted into the general election bill under one chapter. The other option would be to submit two separate bills.

"We've given her two alternatives... she'll decide," Nyoman said on Monday.

Nyoman said Megawati was given the options on Monday, but admitted that he did not know when she would be able to make her decision.

Time is running short for the government to finish all the election regulations before its mandate ends in October 2004. Analysts have said the election should be held in July, leaving three months to count the ballots.

With less than two years remaining, preparations have not begun as the political bills remain stuck at the legislature.

The bills cover the general election and political parties, both of which are awaiting deliberation by lawmakers. A third political bill on the presidential election hinges on Megawati's decision. If she opts for a separate law, it too will have to be approved by the legislature first.

The government team met last week with legal experts, some of whom advised it to turn the chapter into a separate law without changing its content, Nyoman said.

"They (the experts) had different opinions; some favor a separate law, some others think it is best to have it all under the general election law," Nyoman explained.

The rules would remain the same under either option, he said.

But he added that a separate bill would give the team more leeway to draft the rules in greater detail.

Six of the House's largest factions met on Friday and agreed to speed up the passing of the political bills, media reports said.

The meeting, however, did not establish a new time target.

Legislator Hamdan Zoelva from the Crescent Star Party said the original target was to pass the political bills by the end of this year.

"We're hoping sometime by November or December," said Hamdan who is deputy chairman of House Commission II on home and legal affairs.

He also suggested a separate presidential election bill, as the issue needed greater attention by lawmakers to discuss it.

By debating the two election bills separately, he added, lawmakers could speed up the deliberation of the political bills.

"If discussion on the presidential election stalls the deliberation of the election bill then will become a problem," he explained.

According to him, lawmakers can deliberate on the presidential election bill later without slowing preparations by the General Election Commission (KPU). KPU is in charge of organizing the election.