House endorses political laws

House endorses political laws

JAKARTA (JP): The House of Representatives (DPR) passed three
political bills into law by the set deadline on Thursday, but not
before overcoming a number of last minute hitches.

Stern objections raised by the minority United Development
Party (PPP) delayed the proceedings and at one point even
threatened to derail the entire process.

If that wasn't enough a drama, a member of the minority
Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) faction suffered a heart attack
and died during the final deliberations, further delaying the
bills passage through the House.

However, the PPP buckled under pressure from the powerful
Golkar and the Armed Forces factions and eventually gave its
endorsement to the three bills.

The objections it raised during the special committee meetings
had disappeared by the time the House convened in a plenary
session for the final reading of the three bills.

The three bills -- on political parties, general elections,
and the composition of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR),
the DPR, and provincial and regency legislatures -- will provide
the foundations for the general election scheduled for June 7.

Minister of Home Affairs Syarwan Hamid, who was present at the
plenary session, told reporters afterwards that the new
legislation would be "socialized" for one month before President
B.J. Habibie signed them into law.

The highlights of the new political bills include:

* The election will follow a multiparty system.

* A party has to be represented in at least nine provinces,
and in half of all the regencies in each of these nine provinces,
to be eligible to contest the election.

* The DPR will consist of 500 seats and the MPR will comprise
of the 500 DPR members, 135 regional representatives and 65
representatives of social and mass organizations.

* The Armed Forces, whose members do not vote in elections,
will automatically receive 38 DPR seats with voting rights.

* Civil servants are barred from joining political parties
unless with the approval of their immediate superiors. To pursue
political activities, they are required to take leave of absence,
but are entitled to their basic pay for up to one year.

* The election will use a system of proportional
representation evolving around provincial level electoral
districts.

* The national election committee will be made up of five
government representatives and one representative of each
political party eligible to contest the election.

President Habibie has promised to conduct an honest and fair
election, a move widely seen as crucial to restoring confidence
in the country and lifting the economy out of a deep recession.

The general election is scheduled to take place on June 7. The
MPR is then tentatively scheduled to convene in a general session
to elect a president and vice president some time in October.

The plenary session took place at 3 p.m., 90 minutes behind
schedule. The delay was caused by the special committee, which
failed to complete deliberating the finer points of the bill on
time.

The committee reached a deadlock after the PPP faction refused
to take any further part in the morning session in protest over
the government's regulation on the political rights of civil
servants.

When the meeting eventually got underway at 11 a.m., it had to
be suspended after Idi Siswaya of the PDI faction collapsed and
died of a suspected heart attack. His body was taken to Cipto
Mangunkusumo General Hospital for an autopsy and then on to his
residence in Kalibata, South Jakarta. His body will be laid in
the House building on Friday before being buried in Bandung, West
Java.

The special committee resumed the meeting at noon, after
drafting in top party leaders in an attempt to break the impasse.

The PPP argued that the government regulation on civil
servants' political rights signed by Habibie on Tuesday departed
significantly from the deal that House leaders had agreed upon.

Djuhad Mahja from the PPP faction said the House had agreed
that civil servants joining political parties must report to
their immediate superiors rather than to authorized officials as
stated in the regulation.

The new regulation also allows civil servants the luxury of
receiving their basic salary for up to five years if they take
leave of absence to join a political party. The House had only
agreed to one year of paid leave, said Djuhad.

The PDI faction sided with the PPP in the protest and demanded
amendments to the government regulation.

Only after Minister Syarwan gave his assurance that President
Habibie had agreed to alter the regulation to conform with the
House agreement did the two minority parties agreed to endorse
the bills.

While there appears to be broad agreement within the House,
objections were raised by political parties not represented in
the DPR. The biggest objection was to the decision to give the
military 38 unelected seats in the House.

The Chairman of the Indonesian Uni-Democracy Party, Sri
Bintang Pamungkas, said ABRI's presence in the House was
unconstitutional.

Bintang said that ABRI should only be represented in the MPR.

Dozens of members of the People's Democratic Party staged a
demonstration outside the Yogyakarta provincial legislative
council to protest at the political privileges granted to the
Armed Forces.

They said that ABRI's presence in House was undermining
democracy and implied that the military had no confidence in the
civilian leadership. (rms/23/29/44/45)