No need for new political laws, experts say

JAKARTA (JP): Most political experts believe Indonesia no longer needs laws to govern political parties as the new electoral law, currently being drafted, should be sufficient.

Indria Samego of the Indonesian Institute of Sciences and Afan Gaffar of Gadjah Mada University asserted that despite the emergence of new political parties, there was no need for the government and the House of Representatives to prepare a new law on political parties.

Instead, a comprehensive electoral law would encompass issues regarding the establishment of political parties, the two experts pointed out in a hearing with House Commission II for domestic political affairs which was attended by political scientist Nazaruddin Syamsuddin from the University of Indonesia.

Commission chairman Budi Harsono said the hearing was held as part of the commission's preparations to deliberate the draft laws on general elections, political parties and the role and function of the House currently being prepared by a team appointed by President B.J. Habibie.

"The existing law on political parties is not more than a set of prohibitions, which in the end only makes the (existing) political parties nothing more than a means to legitimize (claims) that the country is democratic," Indria said, as quoted by Antara.

"The rest of the ruling in the law has actually been covered in the parties' statutes. Therefore, why don't we just let the parties establish their own stipulations rather than (having) a law," he said.

The existing political laws recognize only two political parties -- the United Development Party and the Indonesian Democratic Party -- and Golkar, which does not call itself a political party but contests elections.

Habibie's government has pledged to open the political corridors and allow people to build their own political parties. The government has appointed a team, headed by political expert Ryaas Rasyid, to prepare new laws to replace the existing ones.

Habibie said the new laws should be ready by August when they will be submitted to the House for deliberation.

Several groups have already taken advantage of the promise and established parties. These include the Indonesian Workers Party (PPI) and Indonesian-Chinese for Reform Party (Parti).

On Monday a group of environmentalists announced plans to establish the country's first green party, the United Republic Party. The announcement was made during a ceremony at the summit of the 3,019 meter Mt. Pangrango 65 kilometers south of here on Sunday.

"If the government wants to improve the political laws, it'd be better if it provides a definition of what a political party is," Indria said.

Afan concurred and said that parties are part of the electoral system. The electoral law should therefore consist of many chapters in order to prevent "unfair interpretations."

"The (electoral) law will have around 200 chapters," said Afan, who is included in Ryaas' team.

The law will also abolish the election registration committees in order to prevent cheating.

Amien

In Yogyakarta, opposition figure Amien Rais said he did not have any plans to jump onto the bandwagon and establish his own political party.

"Let other people articulate their interests through parties that they establish," he said in a discussion at Gadjah Mada University Monday evening.

He said there was no reason for concern over the emergence of many political parties of late, because a natural selection process would occur and parties which did not have the support of many people would dissolve automatically.

"The public will decide whether certain parties would continue to exist," he said. (23/44/swe)