House pressured to make trustworthy election law

Edith Hartanto and Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

As public skepticism runs high, pressure is mounting for legislators to produce a sound election law as a prerequisite to a democratic general election in 2004.

Observers here said on Wednesday that the public feel legislators ignore their constituents and spend most of their time involved in political bickering.

"In the 1999 General Election, people condoned flaws more readily such as the imperfect election law because of the emergency situation," Roberto Hutabarat, a program officer at the Asia Foundation told The Jakarta Post referring to the fall of president Soeharto.

The Asia Foundation was a facilitator for poll observers in the 1999 election.

Among the flaws were that people chose political parties under a proportional system, that there were unrealistically small election campaign funds and because the General Election Committee (KPU) was less than independent.

Voters now have to vote for individuals rather than political parties and interaction between voters and their candidates has intensified, Roberto said.

People are more skeptical now because things have not improved over the past three years, he added.

Roberto and his colleagues Wandy Tuturoong and Adi Abidin of the same foundation were interviewed by the Post on the election bill.

The 1999 election, dubbed the most democratic for the past four decades, was prepared in less than six months and Election Law No. 3/1999 was deliberated in just three months.

"Due to the time constraint, many poll organizers were ignorant about the technicalities of conducting an election," Wandy, a colleague of Roberto, said.

Now that the timeline is more permissive, there is an opportunity to introduce the bill to the public and obtain feedback.

Legislators have to convince the people by making a sound election bill to ensure a better election in 2004, said Adi.

"People today simply don't trust lawmakers anymore. The level of high trust in 1999 has now hit rock bottom," Adi added.

The only way to gain public trust and to shape up a quality legislature via the next 2004 poll is by involving public participation in the deliberation of the ongoing election bill, he added.

Legislators have to start going around the country and introducing the election bill to provinces and regencies in a bid to get feedback from non-governmental organizations, local figures and independent electoral observers, he said.

"That way the public will be involved right from the beginning and they will be able to complain about the bill before it is already endorsed," Wandy said.

The public will feel that they are part of the election process, and that it is not only for a bunch of elite politicians, Adi said.

Wandy urged legislators to ensure the insertion of an autonomous KPU in the bill.

"KPU has to become an autonomous body like the Ombudsman Commission or the National Commission on Human Rights, which directly reports to the president," Wandy said.

There is no need for KPU to be attached to the Ministry of Home Affairs because the commission is the sole organizer of the election, he said.

During Soeharto's years, the organization of elections was overseen by the Ministry of Home Affairs through governors in provinces right down to the village heads, he said.

"So what would KPU need the ministry for? It is better for KPU to have a direct link to the Ministry of Finance, which would provide funding for the commission but would not intervene in KPU's policies," Wandy added.