KPU ruling referred to Supreme Court

KPU ruling referred to Supreme Court

JAKARTA (JP): President B.J. Habibie referred to the Supreme
Court on Thursday the recent ruling of the General Elections
Commission (KPU) banning political parties from using state
officials in their campaigns.

"I have asked the Minister of Justice to give his legal
opinion on the KPU's decision, then I will submit it to the ad
interim home affairs minister. He is asking for the Supreme
Court's legal instruction," Habibie said, Antara reported.
Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs Feisal
Tanjung is the acting home affairs minister

After meeting with Habibie and 48 political party
representatives at Merdeka Palace, Minister/State Secretary Akbar
Tandjung said a decision on whether the ruling would be made into
law was expected within the next few days.

"The President has said that whatever the decision, he will
obey it," Akbar, who also chairs the ruling Golkar party, said.
Golkar would suffer the most if the ruling is passed as most
senior state officials are also party members.

Akbar said if the Supreme Court agreed with the KPU ruling,
ministers would have to quit their posts if they insisted on
campaigning for their parties.

But otherwise, all ministers wishing to campaign for their
parties must take a leave of absence, Akbar said.

He said the President had prepared a decree on such an
arrangement before the KPU ruled against parties employing
officials in their campaigns. KPU chairman Rudini said the ruling
was part of the commission's task to formulate an electoral code
of conduct.

The KPU's latest decision led Habibie to ask for an assessment
of the ruling from the Supreme Court, while at the same time he
"offered" the government's "legal opinion", Akbar said.

Also at Merdeka Palace, Minister of Justice Muladi said the
KPU should have first consulted Habibie before issuing the
ruling. The law on elections states that the President is
responsible for the elections.

The KPU could not just "extensively" interpret its authority,
Muladi said. "But whatever the edict says, all must comply with
it," he said.

Separately, KPU chairman Rudini was apparently miffed, saying
the KPU's decision, which was voted on by commission members, had
been reached democratically. While he agreed it was within the
Supreme Court's authority to veto such a ruling, he said the
government should be magnanimous enough to accept the decision.

"I'd like to explain again here, that the KPU is not banning
ministers from campaigning, but regulating that political parties
cannot use their members in the government to campaign," the
former minister of home affairs said, as quoted by Antara.

Rudini stressed the commission would impose sanctions on
ministers who violated the KPU decision.

Meanwhile, the KPU ruling continued to draw a mixed response
on Thursday. The ban on state officials campaigning was seen as a
major blow to the Golkar party, as most ministers and officials,
right down to the subdistrict level, are Golkar executives.

Politicians and observers said Thursday they could understand
the decision in the light of past experiences, referring to the
frequently cited practice of incumbent ministers abusing state
facilities to help Golkar win previous elections.

But most questioned the KPU's so-called "double standard",
allowing its members to campaign while banning state officials
from doing so.

Chairman of the United Development Party Hamzah Haz said the
rulings must be reviewed. Hamzah, the state minister of
investment, said his colleagues could simply take leave of
absence if they wished to campaign for their parties.

"They would not be allowed to use their ministry's facilities,
including their cars. Then people can judge whether the present
Golkar is different from the past," he said.

In a discussion at the Center for Strategic and International
Studies here, Ryaas Rasyid, a senior official from the ministry
of home affairs and a politics professor, said it was more
important for the nation to establish a democratic electoral
system rather than to simply defeat Golkar. (aan/gis)