House factions question KPU's independence
Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak and Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Deliberation of the much-awaited election bill got into full swing on Monday, with some factions in the House of Representatives questioning the independence of the General Elections Commission (KPU).
Unlike the draft bill proposed by the government, the factions suggested the KPU Secretariat not be put under the control of the home ministry.
"If the KPU secretary-general is a civil servant, we certainly will not be able to say the commission is an independent body," the spokesman for the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) faction, Firman Jaya Daeli, said during a hearing with Minister of Home Affairs Hari Sabarno.
He was commenting on the rulings proposed by the government that would place the KPU under the control of the home ministry.
Article 67, Paragraph 1, of the elections bill stipulates that in its daily tasks, the KPU will be assisted by a secretariat which is a government agency.
Paragraph 5 says that the secretary-general of the KPU will be a civil servant.
Fellow legislator Ali Masykur Musa of the National Awakening Party (PKB) emphasized that the KPU must not be a government agency, but a state institution.
"We want the secretariat to be a part of the KPU itself. The KPU is not a government agency, but a state institution. We will discuss this matter later," Ali said.
The Coalition for Political Laws has repeatedly criticized the rulings set out in the elections bill. The coalition suggested the KPU secretariat should not be a government agency, but an independent body.
The stipulation that the KPU is a government agency contradicts Article 64 of the bill, which state that the KPU is an independent body.
The independence of the KPU is important because the commission will be responsible for organizing elections at all levels of administration, from urban areas to remote villages.
The House is also deliberating the political party bill, which along with the elections bill has to be endorsed by the end of this year to ensure the 2004 general election takes place as scheduled.
Meanwhile, the Indonesian chapter of the Berlin-based Transparency International (TI-Indonesia) suggested the House revise both the election and political party bills, particularly the articles on political funds, to ensure a more credible general election.
TI-Indonesia secretary-general Emmy Hafild said the bills should impose limits on which private companies and capital owners can donate to political parties and campaigns.
"Private companies which organize public funds, such as banks, and insurance companies, as well as state-owned enterprises and companies whose businesses concern public needs, should be excluded because such companies are dependent on the government's policies and the legislature's legal products."
Emmy said the list of excluded companies should include those companies in the forestry, mining, oil and gas, and water supply sectors, as well as companies in debt and companies whose debt is being handled by the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency.
The watchdog also called for a separation of political parties' financial reports and their campaign funds, and for an independent audit of campaign funds in a bid to uphold transparency.