Govt to combine House, presidential vote

Govt to combine House, presidential vote

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

A draft chapter to be included in the election bill combines the
legislative and executive elections, giving less room for winning
political parties to later fix the outcome of the presidential
election.

The government plans to add the chapter on the presidential
election to the election bill which legislators are debating, a
spokesperson at the Ministry of Homes Affairs, I Nyoman Sumaryadi
said on Tuesday.

"We plan to have one election only; for seats at the House of
Representatives, the regional representatives council, the
regional legislative council, and the presidency," said Nyoman.

Last week, the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) approved
the amendment of the 1945 Constitution, paving the way for the
country's first ever direct presidential election by 2004.

Now the Constitution defines the general election as voting
for the House, the legislative council, the representatives
council and the president. It is undecided as yet, whether the
four elections should be held simultaneously.

Lawmakers suggested holding the presidential election after
the completion of the three others, particularly after the House.

They said this would prevent an excess of presidential
candidates confusing voters who must already decide from a wide
palette of political parties.

"We would be able to know (beforehand) whose (candidate) might
win, so that we can nominate a candidate from a winning party,"
said lawmaker Teras Narang who chairs the House committee in
charge of deliberating the election bill.

Asked whether this choice meant providing room for backdoor
dealings prior to the presidential race, Teras said: "That's the
consequence".

A member of the General Election Commission (KPU) Chusnul
Mar'iyah agreed there was a risk of politicking distorting the
election if parties knew their composition at the House before
they nominated a candidate.

"Those who wish to have the (presidential) election held
later, are allowing a situation whereby only winning parties will
nominate candidates," Chusnul said on Monday. "That's exactly
where the politicking lies."

Political activists slammed such ideas as killing democracy.
They argued that anybody should be able to become a presidential
nominee including those without affiliation to any political
party.

Nyoman said the government planned to discuss the chapter with
a team of experts and submit it to the House by the third week of
this month.