Horse trading feared in election bill deliberation

Horse trading feared in election bill deliberation

Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Legislators deliberating the presidential election bill have
agreed to discuss contentious issues in closed-door meetings,
denying the public access to the deliberations of the draft.

All nine factors in the House of Representatives (DPR) agreed
on Monday to bring up some crucial issues, including requirements
for presidential candidates, to a House task force (Panja) after
they failed to bridge the differences over the issues.

Normally, legislators settle contentious issues in special
committee (Pansus) meetings, which are open to public scrutiny.

The agreement to bring the bill's contentious issues to
closed-door meetings raised speculation that the problems would
be settled through backroom dealings.

The bill is expected to be endorsed by the House in June.

House factions continued on Monday their debate on the
requirements of presidential candidates with three factions --
Golkar, Reform and Crescent Star Party (PBB) -- proposing that
candidates should at least have a university diploma.

They argued that presidential candidates had to possess the
intellectual capabilities, which they said, could be measured
through their educational background, to enable them to have a
clear outlook.

"We want presidential candidates to be intelligent and have
strong leadership qualities. If the candidates only have high
school education, they will not meet that standard," said
Golkar's Hafiz Zawawi at a hearing with Minister of Home Affairs
Hari Sabarno.

Legislators from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle
(PDI Perjuangan), whose chairwoman, Megawati Soekarnoputri, did
not finish her university studies, rejected the proposition.

J.E. Sahetapy of PDI Perjuangan said deliberation of the bill
showed political rivalry among the factions.

He suggested that people should not be proud of a university
diploma as a reference.

"We all know that a diploma has become a commodity. It would
be better if we demanded morality and intellectuality rather than
certificates," Sahetapy added.

Due to strong contention, all factions agreed to discuss the
issue at a closed-door meeting, scheduled for May 19.

Apart from the issue of candidates' educational background,
legislators also brought up other matters in the closed-door
deliberations, including the obligation for candidates to declare
their wealth and that candidates should not have been involved in
the abortive coup of the now-defunct Indonesian Communist Party
(PKI) in 1965.

Andi Matalatta and Patrialis Akbar from Golkar and Reform
factions respectively denied suggestions that the decision to
bring the issue to a closed-door meeting was designed to make an
under-the-table deal among factions.

Andi said that his faction would keep its proposal intact
until the final deliberation.

"We will not use this issue as a bargaining instrument with
PDI Perjuangan," he said, referring to PDI Perjuangan's proposal
that presidential candidates should not have a criminal record.

Golkar chairman Akbar Tandjung was convicted of a graft case
last year but was not jailed, pending his appeal with the Supreme
Court.

Patrialis also emphasized that his faction would fight for the
stipulation until the deliberations ended. "We will defend our
proposal until the vote," he added.