KPU members mull resignation over unclear status

KPU members mull resignation over unclear status

Tiarma Siboro and Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The General Elections Commission (KPU) is facing a brain drain
as the institution has yet to settle a dispute over the status of
its members, suggesting gloomy prospects for the upcoming
elections.

Several members of the commission expressed their intention to
quit on Friday, refusing to resign or take long leave as civil
servants as demanded by the newly passed Elections Law.

The commission has around one year left to prepare for the
direct elections of House of Representatives legislators and the
president, which are slated to take place in June and August
respectively, according to the KPU timetable.

According to the legislation, all the 11 commission members
will serve until 2006 and must work on a permanent basis. With
the new law automatically coming into effect one month after its
passage, by March 18 at the latest, the members have to state
their commitment to the institution by April 18.

All but two members of the commission are civil servants.

KPU chairman Nazaruddin Syamsudin said the discussion on the
commission's membership was over and suggested that those who
refused to resign as civil servants should take extended leave as
permitted by the law.

"During their time off they will not receive their monthly
salaries, only their allowances as KPU members. They won't be
allowed to take up jobs other than their state duties," Nazarudin
said on Friday.

"It doesn't matter if they opt to quit the KPU. We employ
hundreds of staff here to assist us in completing the election
process."

None of the KPU members had formally put in for resignation as
of Friday, according to Nazaruddin, a professor in politics at
the University of Indonesia (UI).

KPU deputy chairman Ramlan Surbakti and member Mudji Sutrisno
have disclosed their intention to quit the commission as they are
unwilling to give up their jobs as lecturers.

Ramlan is a civil servant who works as a lecturer in Airlangga
University in Surabaya, while Mudji, who is also a Catholic
priest, teaches in the Driyarkara Institute of Philosophy in
Jakarta.

Another KPU member, Imam B. Prasodjo, also said he would leave
the commission. He demanded on Friday a clarification of Article
18 of the Elections Law, which does not specifically require KPU
members to resign as civil servants.

"The legislators who deliberated the bill remain split over
the article," said Imam, who also teaches at UI's School of
Social and Political Sciences.

He was referring to the chairman of House Commission II for
law and domestic affairs, Teras Narang, who insisted that the KPU
members had to resign as civil servants, and Ferry Mursyidan
Baldan who voiced a contrary opinion.

"Whom should we believe?," Imam said. "Pak Nazarudin said we
could take leave as lecturers while working for the KPU, but for
how long? Should it last until the election takes places in 2004
or until our terms end in 2006?"

In a related development, House Commission II members Agun
Gunandjar Sudarsa and Patrialis Akbar called for a consultation
meeting between the KPU, the government, and lawmakers to clarify
the controversy surrounding electoral matters.

"The government, the House, and the KPU must sit down together
to avoid misunderstandings," Patrialis of Reform faction told The
Jakarta Post on the sidelines of a meeting here on Friday.

Patrialis said all 11 members of the KPU had visited foreign
countries to study the organization of elections. Therefore, they
should not resign on the spur of the moment.

Agun of Golkar faction concurred, saying that a consultation
meeting would help the three institutions resolve various
problems ranging from the time frame for elections to the
employment status of KPU members.

Both Agun and Patrialis agreed that the elections commission
must be given enough time to prepare for the 2004 general
elections.

"Principally, the KPU must be given enough time to make
preparations for the elections," Agun said.