'Govt's election model needs modification'

'Govt's election model needs modification'

Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The electoral system outlined by the government is considered the
most applicable for the 2004 elections, although modifications
are needed to enable voters to clearly understand the new scheme,
experts say.

"In general terms, the model proposed by the home ministry is
better than the others, but it needs some adjustments to minimize
technical constraints," political scientist Syamsuddin Haris from
the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) told a discussion
here on Thursday.

Hadar N. Gumay from the Center for Electoral Reform (Cetro)
concurred, said that the government's model would ensure direct
representation of the people who had voted for each individual
legislator, and hopefully ensure better accountability.

Syamsuddin and Hadar were commenting on the electoral bill
currently being deliberated in the House of Representatives that
could adopt a combination of a proportional system with an open-
list of candidates.

All factions at the House of Representatives (DPR) have agreed
to adopt the proportional system with an open-list of candidates.
Under the new system, voters will directly choose their
candidates, instead of political parties.

The House, however, has not reached an agreement on the
technicalities of the new system.

The home affairs ministry proposed that the electoral zone
should cover a province or parts of a province. Political parties
are allowed to nominate two candidates for each legislative seat
on offer.

Under this system, people vote for a political party and
candidates up to the number of seats contested.

Analysts said that although applicable, this system contained
difficulties during ballot-counting.

Apart from the government, the Indonesian Democratic Party of
Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) and Golkar Party have proposed their
own models.

PDI Perjuangan's model allows political parties to nominate as
many candidates as there are seats.

Under this model, people could vote for a political party
and/or write the name of their legislative candidates they
prefer. If people elect only political parties, they give the
power back to the parties to determine each legislator.

The faction proposes that an electoral zone cover an entire
province, a proposal considered by analysts as too large.

Hadar said the system offered by PDI Perjuangan would not
ensure direct representation by legislators for their
constituents, thus was undemocratic.

Golkar's model allows political parties to nominate twice as
many candidates as seats in each province.

Under this system, people would vote for political parties and
the legislative candidate on the same ballot.

The party suggested that the electoral zone cover a regency or
municipality.

According to Hadar, the Golkar model would ensure
representation of constituents, but would be difficult for the
election committee when it came to counting the votes.