Govt to provide 'Code of Ethics' for political parties

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)