Govt tries to strip independent bodies of their authority

Govt tries to strip independent bodies of their authority

Edith Hartanto and Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

We are back to square one. Democracy is backpedaling to what it
was during the Soeharto regime, experts said here on Saturday.

"This country is practicing a fictitious democracy. The
government is running an authoritarian system as it had in the
past. Democracy is merely rhetorical and procedural," political
observer F.X. Mudji Sutrisno, who is also a member of the General
Election Commission (KPU) told The Jakarta Post.

Arbi Sanit, a senior lecturer at the University of Indonesia
said that the current government still applied the same logic as
the New Order government because it wanted to maintain its grip
on every institution, including independent bodies.

Mudji and Arbi were asked to comment on the growing signs of
government intervention in independent bodies like the KPU and
the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM).

"KPU and Komnas HAM were formed to fight for the sake of the
people in elections and human rights respectively. Thus, they
must be nonpartisan and free from government intervention," Arbi
said.

People would ask what kind of democracy is being formed in the
light of such government intervention in KPU and Komnas HAM, he
said.

Arbi urged the House to establish a new law that could
guarantee the independence of KPU and Komnas HAM.

The House of Representatives is currently deliberating the
government-backed election bill which specifies, among other
things, that the KPU should be under the aegis of the Ministry of
Home Affairs.

Both Mudji and Arbi agreed that the intervention showed the
government's lack of commitment to political reform in the
country.

Mudji said the current government did not seem to care that
the two independent bodies were needed to keep reform and
democracy on track.

All 11 KPU members, comprising mostly reform-minded
professionals, have rejected the election bill which places their
general secretariat under the Ministry of Home Affairs saying it
should be under the KPU to avoid any political intervention.

The general secretariat determines KPU's organizational
structure, working mechanism, finances and budget.

KPU members also rejected the provision of funding from the
Ministry of Home Affairs arguing that it should be directly
funded by the Ministry of Finance, which would not interfere in
KPU policy, thereby assuring its independence.

Last Thursday KPU members threatened to quit unless the clause
to place the KPU general secretariat under the auspices of the
Ministry of Home Affairs was dropped by the House.

With regards Komnas HAM, many have questioned the credibility
of government-proposed candidates that are currently being
grilled through the House's fit-and-proper test.

"Many of the member candidates proposed by the government for
Komnas HAM have no experience in defending human rights.

"I sense that there are efforts to weaken Komnas HAM so that
future members will not be reformists and the commission will not
be able to conduct investigations into human rights violations,"
Mudji said.

A total of 43 candidates ranging from political party members,
to retired police/military members and government officials are
being screened for the 35-member commission.

The other problem is that almost all candidates are between 50
years and 76 years of age, he said.

"Age could be a problem because if many Komnas HAM members
were too old, they would not be able to investigate a case on the
field thoroughly ... and therefore it will be a liability for the
validity of the results of Komnas HAM investigations," Mudji
said.

Mudji and Arbi said under the modern state theory, independent
bodies like KPU and Komnas HAM were essential to help build a
democratic state.

Those bodies together with three other pillars: the
legislative, executive and judiciary bodies, would strive to
uphold democracy.

Both cited Thailand, the Philippines, Australia and South
Africa as examples of countries that have successfully
established an independent election commission and human rights
commission as auxiliary state bodies.