MPR endorses election of president, VP by vote
MPR endorses election of president, VP by vote
JAKARTA (JP): For the first time in its 54-year history, the
country will have its president and vice president elected by
vote this year.
The People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) unanimously endorsed
on Tuesday a decree stipulating that a presidential candidate
requires a simple majority in a secret ballot in the Assembly to
win. A vote would not be held if all the factions in the Assembly
were united in nominating a single candidate.
The decree took effect upon its endorsement, meaning the
presidential and vice presidential elections on Wednesday and
Thursday will comply with the new ruling.
The decree states the presidential election precedes the vice
presidential election, adhering to the long-standing custom.
In a departure from former procedures, however, each faction
can pick more than one presidential candidate.
A presidential candidate can also be proposed by a group of at
least 70 Assembly members regardless of their factions.
A nomination must be submitted to the Assembly leadership with
the written consent of the candidate. The candidacy must be
submitted at least 12 hours before the presidential election,
although this stipulation was breached on Tuesday after a vote on
the President's accountability speech went beyond the 10:30 p.m.
deadline.
A presidential candidacy would be invalid if a nominee
withdrew or the faction or group of Assembly members canceled the
nomination. A replacement would be allowed only if it was made
before the Assembly leadership announced the list of candidates.
According to chapter 14 of the decree, the election must be
attended by at least two-thirds of the 700-member Assembly. If
the Assembly fails to meet the requirement, the meeting would be
postponed for one hour and for a maximum of five times
consecutively.
It the quorum was still not met, there would be the
requirement for at least more than a half of the Assembly members
to be in attendance. If the simple quorum also failed, the
Assembly leadership would be obliged to seek a solution to be
discussed in the next plenary meeting.
Chapter 15 opens the possibility for a two-step election in
the event of three candidates. The issue would be settled if one
of the nominees won more than 50 percent of the total vote.
"When there is no candidate who wins more than half of the
votes, the three candidates with the most votes would contest the
next secret ballot," the decree states.
If the two remaining candidates win an equal share of the vote
or neither one of them is able to win more than half of the total
vote, another round of voting would be held a minimum of 24 hours
later.
If the vote remained equally split or no candidate won more
than half of the vote, alternative presidential candidates must
be proposed and a new secret ballot would be conducted.
Erna Witoelar, a deputy chairwoman of Commission B for non-
state policy guidelines, said chapters 14 and 15 were the most
controversial during deliberations.
"The decree was passed after many changes were made," Erna
said.
Sukarno was appointed to head the Committee for Indonesian
Independence Preparation (PPKI) just one day after he and
Mohammad Hatta declared independence on Aug. 17, 1945. The
founding president never contested an election, despite
organizing a general election in 1955, until he ceded power to
Soeharto in 1967.
The New Order regime held six general elections, but Soeharto
was always elected unopposed. The Assembly last elected him in
March 1998, but requested he step down two months later.
The decree states that presidential and vice presidential
candidates must be Indonesian natives who are aged at least 40
years.
It maintains preceding rulings stipulating that candidates
must never have been involved, directly or indirectly, in any
treacherous activities against the Republic of Indonesia, such as
the abortive coup attempt blamed on the Indonesian Communist
Party in 1965. (prb)