Legislative seats of ABRI less after 1997 polls
Legislative seats of ABRI less after 1997 polls
JAKARTA (JP): The number of Armed Forces (ABRI) seats in the
House of Representatives will be slashed from 100 to 75 after the
1997 general election, a senior military official confirmed
yesterday.
Maj. Gen. Syarwan Hamid, assistant to ABRI's chief of socio-
political affairs, said that the government was working to finish
the bill by the upcoming 1997 election.
"We expect the bill to be passed as planned," he told
reporters after attending a bi-monthly meeting between the
Supreme Advisory Council and ABRI leaders.
Government officials discussed the plan to cut the number of
ABRI seats in the legislative body with House speaker Wahono last
month.
The plan to reduce the number came after President Soeharto
ordered the Indonesian Institute of Sciences in February to
conduct research on a more suitable electoral system.
Under a 1985 law, the military is guaranteed 100 non-voting
seats in the House while a 1982 law gives legitimacy to ABRI's
role as a socio-political player in Indonesia.
At present, ABRI holds 100 of the 500 DPR seats. The remaining
400 seats are contested in a general election, once every five
years, by Golkar, the United Development Party (PPP) and the
Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI).
For some time now, the military's presence in the House has
widely been questioned by political observers.
B.N. Marbun of the Indonesian Democratic Party said the
military should give up all of 100 of its seats because
its participation in politics is already guaranteed through its
representation at the People's Consultative Assembly.
He said that ABRI is "over-represented" in the House given
that the military number less than one million. In contrast, the
other 400 House members represent some 190 million people.
ABRI's presence in the House has often come into question,
particularly because the Armed Forces does not take part in the
election. It's current representation is higher than that of the
PPP (62) and the PDI (56).
A number of ABRI representatives in the last few years
surprised political commentators when they took the initiatives
on various controversial issues such as debates on political
openness and human rights.
Situation
Syarwan said that reduction of ABRI seats in provincial and
regency legislative councils would be considered later if the
situation requires the government to do so.
"We'll have to see how things develop first," he said.
Legislators from the Indonesian Democratic Party and the
United Development Party have been insisting that ABRI should
also reduce their representation in the provincial and regency
legislative councils.
Syarwan argued that theoretically it was impossible to give up
all ABRI seats in the House.
"ABRI is represented in the House because it has no right to
vote in the general election," he said.
He said, however, that it is always possible to review the
number of ABRI representatives, depending on the prevailing
political situation.
"We may even consider to give up all those seats if the people
wish us to do so," he said.
He denied speculation that ABRI would also reduce the number
of its personnel holding posts in various ministries.
"ABRI personnel at the ministry are there at the relevant
ministers' requests," he said. (imn)