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)