JP/4/Todung
JP/4/Todung
The establishment of local parties in Aceh is one of the most
contentious issues the government will have to settle with the
House or Representatives before a peace deal with Free Aceh
Movement rebels can be signed on Aug. 15. The Jakarta Post's
Tiarma Siboro discussed the matter with Todung Mulya Lubis, a
noted lawyer and co-founder of the Aceh Kita Foundation.
Question: The Helsinki meeting between delegations of the
Indonesian government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) has
brought up the issue of local political parties for the Acehnese.
How do you see this?
Answer: The issue on local political parties for Acehnese has
pros and cons here. But no matter how the Indonesian authorities
may respond the issue, we can say that both parties have reached
agreement on about 99 percent of all points that lead to a
peaceful solution for Aceh. What the government has to do now is
to get political support from legislators to amend all political
legislation, including laws on political parties and general
elections, to enable local parties to participate in the next
elections.
As we know, the law on political parties firmly stipulates
that only parties that have representatives in no less than 50
percent of the total 33 provinces are able to participate in
elections.
Why do some legislators oppose allowing GAM to form a local
political party?
We have gone this far to settle the conflict in Aceh. We have
agreed to provide greater revenue for the resource-rich province
and impose Islamic sharia there. It will be ironic if these
peaceful efforts be blocked just because we disagree with the
presence of local political parties for the Acehnese. And I think
we must let the Acehnese share their political rights, and the
upcoming direct regional elections are considered a final test as
to whether the local political parties will be able to gain
significant votes there. If they failed, they will lose political
legitimacy.
With the heightened tensions in the House of Representatives
towards the Helsinki talks, what are the prospects of the
agreement being signed on Aug. 15?
These days are critical days because the government must
conceive a national agreement with legislators and politicians.
In a bid to win political consensus, the government must campaign
to the House and the political parties about the political points
that we reached in the Helsinki talks. I don't think the Helsinki
talks have violated our Constitution, as Article 28 provides us
with freedom of union, freedom of expression and freedom of
speech.
Several politicians and military figures are worried about
demands from other provinces to also establish local parties.
What is your comment on this?
Of course it's a logical question as to whether the policy on
local political parties should only be enjoyed by the Acehnese.
We have to encourage other Indonesians to ask for similar rights.
We have to encourage Indonesians to support independent
candidates who will sit in the legislature to voice our
aspirations.
Currently, we can say that most Indonesian people do not feel
they are being represented by legislators, and I think
independent candidates will be key players to answer this
representation issue, and the only way that a democratic country
can accommodate independent candidates is by allowing its people
to establish local political parties.
How much do we really need these local political parties?
In the 1999 general election, during which 48 national-scope
political parties joined the race, or even in last year's
elections, which were our first-ever direct elections, these have
showed that none of these political parties met the criteria of
so-called national-scope parties, because none of them won
significant votes in all of Indonesia's 33 provinces, which
undermines their claims to be national-scope parties.
And with data showing that no less than 20 percent of
registered voters nationwide not exercising their political
rights in the last year's direct elections, it is reasonable for
this country to support the establishment of local political
parties.
Some have argued that local political parties will lead the
country into federalism, which goes against the concept of the
Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia (NKRI)?
In 1955 our country held its first-ever elections with the
participation of local political parties. Did it affect the NKRI-
concept? Did it affect the democratic concept? A deadlock
happened only after we began to set up the legislative body, or
so-called Badan Konstituante.
Besides, we are now in a process of transformation from
centralization to decentralization. We have supported special
autonomy for Aceh and Papua. We have also imposed regional
autonomy nationwide.