LIPI told to examine electoral laws

LIPI told to examine electoral laws

JAKARTA (JP): President Soeharto asked the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) yesterday to study the possibility of changing the Indonesian election system from the current proportional representation to a first-past-the post system.

Soeharto also asked the institute to review the methods by which the Armed Forces officers in the House of Representatives are appointed.

Minister/State Secretary Moerdiono told reporters yesterday that the request had been made to new LIPI chairman, Soefjan Tsauri, who reported to the President following his appointment last month.

"President Soeharto is asking LIPI to study which election system is the best and most applicable to us," Moerdiono said after he accompanied Soefjan and his predecessor Samaun Samadikun to meet with the head of state at the Bina Graha office.

Soeharto made the request in response to various public debates on the issue and because of charges that the democratic system in Indonesia is a sham.

"There are people who say that our stability is artificial and that democracy does not really exist because we have legislators who are appointed rather than elected, when, in fact, we are always striving to improve the quality of our democracy," Moerdiono said.

Under the current proportional representation system, voters choose one of the three political parties in the general election -- Golkar, the United Development Party (PPP) and the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI).

In the last election, Golkar won 68 percent of the votes, the PPP 17 percent and the PDI 15 percent. Four hundred of the 500 seats in the House were divided accordingly. The other 100 seats are reserved for ABRI, whose members do not vote.

Debates

There have been debates among politicians and intellectuals about whether the electoral system should be changed into one in which voters directly elect the parliamentarians who will represent them.

Officials in Golkar, which has won all of the five general elections held under President Soeharto, have said that the district system would make Golkar's majority almost absolute because they would win almost all, if not every, district.

The PDI and the PPP have been calling for a revamp of the electoral system but have refrained from endorsing the district- based system. Instead, they have been arguing for better supervision and administration of the general elections.

Moerdiono said the fact that the district system has never been implemented in Indonesia "doesn't mean that the government hasn't thought about it".

Indonesia is not ready to implement the direct election system because of the generally low educational background of the people, he said. But the system might be adopted in the future.

He said the district system would produce local leaders but with no guarantee that they would gain national stature.

Various obstacles notwithstanding, Soeharto asked LIPI to "study ... whether the current electoral system needs to be improved and, if so, how it can be improved", Moerdiono said.

Implementation

"Even if there are answers as to how the current system can be improved, the next question would be when to implement it," he said. "This important task has been entrusted to LIPI... as for whether the result of this study will be used by the government, that's another issue."

Soeharto also asked LIPI to study the appointment of the Armed Forces (ABRI's) representatives in the legislature, Moerdiono said. "There have been criticisms of the appointment of ABRI members to the House."

"What we need to discuss is the appropriate mechanism to be used in appointing ABRI representatives, how many should be appointed ... This we need to think over together."

Moerdiono said President Soeharto had reminded Soefjan and other scholars at LIPI of their position as employees of a government institution.

"As scholars, they have freedom of opinion and freedom to express their views ... which are part of our creative life," Moerdiono said. However, the scholars must be aware of "which opinions are personal views and which are the government's and where those opinions should be expressed". (swe)