Groups rush to submit draft laws to House
JAKARTA (JP): Private groups are rushing to submit their drafts of the new political laws to the House of Representatives (DPR), making the best of the government's failure to meet the deadline which it set itself last month.
On Wednesday, activists and lawyers grouped in the Consortium of National Legal Reform met members of the Golkar faction. They submitted their drafts of laws on general elections; the function and composition of the House, the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) and the regional legislative councils (DPRD); and on political parties.
The Association of Moslem Students (HMI) met with members of the Armed Forces faction and the Muhammadiyah organization met with the Deputy House Speaker Hari Sabarno, also of the Armed Forces.
On Monday, Minister/State Secretary Akbar Tandjung said "technical glitches" had prevented the draft laws from being submitted to the House. He promised the laws would be submitted later this week.
The consortium of lawyers proposed a maximum sentence of five years imprisonment for anyone found guilty of rigging election results.
The same sentence applies to anyone found guilty of obstructing elections; of trying to prevent a voter from voting freely and in secrecy; and "for those claiming to be someone else" when registering to vote.
Members of the consortium include lawyers such as Tumbu Saraswati and Bambang Widjojanto, who heads the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation, and activists M.M. Billah and H.C. Princen.
A sentence of three years in jail is proposed for anyone who "gives or promises anything to anyone to influence the use of that person's vote."
Three years imprisonment is also suggested for those proven guilty of manipulating a vote so that it is rendered invalid.
Following last year's elections, up to 25 different types of violations were recorded by the Independent Monitoring Committee (KIPP). The offenses were committed by various parties, including the government. Violations included multiple voting, the counting of ballots in secret and the intimidation of witnesses and voters.
The draft laws submitted by the Association of Moslem Students (HMI) echoed earlier demands that officers in the Armed Forces (ABRI) should no longer be eligible to sit as members of the House.
A. Kholid Muhammad, who coordinated the drafting of HMI's submission, said the association rejected the concept of the floating mass which applied under the New Order, which it said was used to prevent political parties from operating in villages.
"The floating mass concept has been manipulated and abused," Kholid said, adding that it had resulted in all public activities being spied upon, especially in rural areas.
The association also urged to revise the proportional system with an emphasis on political parties used by the former regime, which it said had resulted in "feudal" communication between politicians and the masses. It said that because representatives were appointed less for their abilities and more for their connections, local party leaders had built up their own empires of loyal followers and become "little kings." (anr)