New House may see reduced ABRI presence
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)