Govt to provide 'Code of Ethics' for political parties

JAKARTA (JP): Respect other political parties. Don't threaten them, and respect all voters. Above all, avoid violence.

These points are part of a Code of Ethics for political parties to be introduced soon by the government in a bid to ensure peace in the run-up to the June 7 general election.

Disruption of peace is mainly expected to heighten during the campaign period.

A member of the government team drafting the political laws and the Code, Andi A. Mallarangeng, said Wednesday the Code, which he said was to be introduced this week, was aimed at getting parties to commit themselves to non-violence during the campaign and election period.

"It's just a moral commitment we're trying to elicit from political parties," Andi told The Jakarta Post at the Institute of Public Administration where he teaches.

The Code will be introduced to the political parties, Andi said, but did not need the approval of the House of Representatives.

Hopefully, it could be put across to all the rank and file of the parties, he said, adding that most of the time when there are clashes between party supporters those who are hurt are always the supporters themselves or what he called ' the nobodies'.

"So party leaders must love their people, and not let their people die for nothing," Andi, who is also a politics lecturer at the Ujungpandang-based Hassanuddin University in South Sulawesi, said.

Although the code will impose no sanctions, signatories will be morally bound to uphold it, said Andi, a graduate of Northern Illinois University in the United States.

Without party leaders committing themselves to non-violence, Andi warned that the upcoming electioneering would be what he called a nightmare.

"We can't let this happen, because this election will be make or break for this country," said Andi, 35, whose dissertation was on political behavior in Indonesia.

All leading party members, he said, should inspire in their constituents a sense of nationhood, in which parties are just parts of the nation as a whole.

The "Code of Ethics", a four-page copy of which was obtained by the Post, consists of a foreword, four chapters and 17 sections.

Chapter III on Ethical Campaigns, for example, includes Section 9 on the freedom to campaign, which says: "All parties have the right to participate in general elections which are honest and fair, including the freedom to campaign without threats and violence."

Section 10 touches on respecting the rights of other parties "to campaign and spread information on their political concepts and principles to the community without threats, disruptions and violence."

Section 11, on respecting the community's rights says that parties should "respect the rights of voters and other members of the community."

The next section calls on parties to respect press freedom: "Parties ... shall not disrupt members of the press undertaking their professional duties. The press will not become a target for threats or violence."

The government team of seven political scientists including Andi is chaired by Ryaas Rasyid, Director General for Administration and Provincial Autonomy and rector of the Institute of Public Administration (IIP).

Eligible parties

Because a new electoral law will only be passed by the House this Jan. 28, the tasks of the poll organizer -- called the General Elections Committee (KPU) in the presently debated elections bill -- will be carried out by the existing General Elections Institute (LPU).

However, Andi said Wednesday, the institute will be "a new LPU", complete with respected figures in light of widespread distrust of the government.

Following last year's election the country's first private election monitoring group, the Independent Election Monitoring Committee (KIPP), reported 25 types of election violation.

Its chairman Goenawan Mohamad had said, "The violations were systematic because the election was organized by government officials who have to maintain the single domination of Golkar."

The Minister of Home Affairs was the ex-officio chairman of the General Elections Institute, and the Attorney General was the ex-officio chairman of the Election Supervision Committee. All top government officials are Golkar functionaries.

Among tasks of the renewed poll organizer are verification and selection of parties eligible to compete in the June 7 poll, Andi said.

Some 10 prominent figures recognized for their high integrity and non-partisanship -- one of whom would chair the elections institute -- would become the majority of its members.

Those who would be invited to join included political experts Miriam Budiardjo and Nurcholish Madjid, both also former members of the National Commission on Human Rights.

He said the above arrangement proposed by the government's expert team has been approved by Minister of Home Affairs Syarwan Hamid. The minister will then decide on the new members based on a list proposed by the team of experts.

The renewed elections institute will determine the eligibility of parties on the basis of whether or not they had already met the minimum requirements laid down in the upcoming law on political parties.

These include requirements for parties to have at least nine provincial branches, and sub-branches in half the number of regencies in the provinces. (aan)