New House may see reduced ABRI presence

JAKARTA (JP): A seven-member team assigned to draft new political laws has outlined a proposal which would eliminate the Armed Forces' (ABRI) representation in provincial legislatures while also reducing the number of its allocated seats in the House of Representatives (DPR).

Ramlan Surbakti, a team member and professor at Airlangga University, said during a seminar in Surabaya, East Java, yesterday that the team planned to propose that ABRI no longer have representatives in provincial legislatures.

"And even ABRI representatives at the House would be reduced. Maybe to about 25 or 50," Ramlan said.

"Personally speaking, we'd prefer to see ABRI representatives only in the People's Consultative Assembly," he added.

He pointed out, however, that the final formulation was still being drafted and that the number of Armed Forces seats to be proposed would not be official until the team formally submitted its suggestions to the House.

The Ministry of Home Affairs formed the seven-member team to draft reform proposals for three political laws: on political parties, elections and the structure of the House of Representatives/People's Consultative Assembly.

The team also includes Ryaas Rasyid, Johermansyah Johan and Lutfi of the state-run Institute for Public Administration, Afan Gaffar of the Yogyakarta-based Gadjah Mada University, Alfian Malawange of the Ujungpandang-based Hasanuddin University in South Sulawesi, and Anas Urbaningrum, chairman of the Indonesian Moslem Students Association and a postgraduate student at the University of Indonesia.

Each member has a background in political science.

The electoral system and the allocation of seats to the Armed Forces are highly contentious issues.

Armed Forces House members are not elected. Instead, ABRI is allocated 75 seats in the 500-member legislative body.

Touching on the team's views on electoral reform, Ramlan, who is also chairman of the Indonesian Political Science Association, said it would probably suggest a variation of the district system.

"A revised district system would mean that each district would have one seat in the House. The elected representatives would thus be responsible to their voters and not to their parties," he said as quoted by Antara.

"The proportional representation system does allow for better representation of minorities, but legislators would be more under the control of their parties," he added.

Other members of the team have previously indicated that the new electoral system would likely be a hybrid of the district system with principles from the proportional representation system blended in.

Such a system might divide the country into 400 geographical districts, each with about 200,000 voters.

The remaining 100 seats would likely be determined through a combined proportional-district system to allow greater representation for smaller parties.

The team is expected to complete its proposals before August to allow the government time to publicize the drafts in a bid to accommodate public input. (mds)