KPU firm with its decision on poll campaigns

KPU firm with its decision on poll campaigns

JAKARTA (JP): The General Elections Commission (KPU) as of
Tuesday was standing firm on its Code of Conduct barring parties
from involving ministers in campaigns, while the government
suggested a meeting between the commission and the President to
resolve the stalemate.

"The President or the minister of home affairs should hold
talks with the commission to find a middle path on this matter.
Let's discuss it in a clear and calm manner," Minister of Justice
Muladi said.

Commission deputy chairman Harun Alrasid said the commission
did not discuss the Supreme Court's legal opinion on the issue of
whether ministers could be involved in campaigns during its
plenary session on Tuesday because the government had not sent
the commission a copy of the opinion.

"We know about the legal opinion from newspapers and the
television," he said.

Commission member Jacob Tobing of the Indonesian Democratic
Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) said the fact that the Supreme
Court's legal opinion was not discussed meant "the commission
remained firm in its decision".

The Supreme Court on Monday issued a legal opinion on the
matter at the request of acting Minister of Home Affairs Feisal
Tanjung.

The opinion states the commission, while independent, answers
to the President, who is in charge of the election according to a
decree of the People's Consultative Assembly.

The court said the KPU had no right to rule on the actions and
roles of ministers, who are the President's assistants.

Harun, also a constitutional law expert, said the commission
did not have to consider the court's legal opinion because it was
not binding.

Harun also said the Supreme Court violated procedures because
such a legal opinion must be requested by the President. Muladi
refuted Harun's comments.

Satya Arinanto, a constitutional law expert at the University
of Indonesia, called on Golkar and the government to comply with
the elections commission's ruling.

He deplored the Supreme Court's legal opinion for being issued
after the elections commission already had issued its Code of
Conduct on campaigns.

"The court's legal opinion is no longer relevant and the
elections commission does not have to take it into consideration
because its decision has been made."

Mochtar Masoed, a political scientist at Gadjah Mada
University in Yogyakarta, hailed the elections commission's Code
of Conduct.

"KPU had the authority to make a code of ethics for the
election campaign."

Officials' abuse of power in past campaigns was one factor
which led to the decision to bar parties from recruiting all
government officials, military members and civil servants in the
campaign, he said.

However, scholars also have criticized the KPU for failing to
consult with the President before issuing its Code of Conduct.

KPU chairman Rudini said the commission was authorized to
issue rulings on the election, including the one barring parties
from recruiting government officials in the campaign.

The commission, however, also has been criticized for "double
standards" because it ruled that commission members could
campaign and run for seats in the legislature. The court's legal
opinion barred KPU members from doing either.

Minister/State Secretary Akbar Tandjung has said, with the
President's permission, he would take an unpaid leave from his
ministerial post to campaign for Golkar.

Akbar, also the chairman of Golkar, said on Tuesday he was
considering replacing Golkar's representative on the elections
commission, Mahadi Sinambela, to allow Mahadi to campaign for
Golkar and run for a seat in the legislature.

Meanwhile, the Central Java provincial chapter of the United
Development Party (PPP) urged party chairman State Minister of
Investment Hamzah Haz and party deputy State Minister of Food and
Horticulture A.M. Saefuddin, to leave their ministerial posts so
they would be able to campaign for PPP. (rms/edt/prb/har)