Independent figures may have chance for presidency

Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Constitutional Commission has proposed an amendment to the Constitution that would allow non-partisan candidates a chance to run for the presidency.

The commission's deputy chairman Albert Hasibuan said on Tuesday its 31-strong team of experts had supported the proposal, which had been demanded by non-governmental organizations during the deliberation of the presidential election bill in 2002.

"Details of the technicalities and requirements will be set out in separate legislation," Albert, a former member of the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM), told the press after an internal meeting here on Tuesday.

The proposal looks certain to face strong opposition from the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), the institution to which the commission is accountable.

Article 6 of the Constitution says presidential and vice presidential candidates must be nominated by a political party or a coalition of political parties.

The stipulation has been widely criticized for denying non- partisan and independent candidates the chance to run, despite the fact that the parties are widely distrusted by the public.

M. Fadjrul Falaakh, another commission member, said giving independent candidates the chance to run would strengthen democracy and the presidential system itself.

Albert and Fadjrul said, however, that strict requirements would be needed so as to limit the number of people nominating themselves as presidential candidates.

Apart from accepting the idea of opening up the presidential contest, the commission members also agreed to encourage a one- round presidential election.

"We need to have a one-round presidential election to save money and energy," said Fadjrul, a legal science expert from Gadjah Mada University (UGM).

The current legislation requires a presidential candidate and his/her running mate to gain more than fifty percent of the votes to be elected president and vice president respectively.

If no candidate wins more than fifty percent of the votes in the first round of the election, a second-round election will be held to determine which of the two frontrunners will be elected president.

Fadjrul said that the current system could be simplified by asking voters to list their preferences on their ballot papers.

Aside from voting for their first choice candidates, the public would also be asked to list the other candidates in their order of preference, starting with their No. 1 choice.

"By adopting this system, we would be sure to get a president based on a one-round election. This would save a lot of money and energy," said Fadjrul.

The commission is primarily tasked with reviewing the amended Constitution, and is expected to submit its final report to the MPR next month.