Officials mull keeping parties off polls boards
CISARUA, West Java (JP): Indonesian Elections Committee (PPI) chairman Jacob Tobing suggested on Saturday amending the General Election Law, so that political parties are excluded from polls administration in the future.
Speaking at a workshop on elections here, Jacob blamed chaotic administration of the June 7 general election and conflicts within the PPI and the General Elections Commission (KPU) on party representatives who fought for their individual and group interests.
"Both the KPU and PPI frequently failed to uphold freedom and fairness in their policy and decision making process because of irreconcilable interests of party representatives," he said.
Jacob said that all seats in the PPI and the KPU should be given to independent professionals to ensure independence in running elections in the future.
The 1999 General Election Law stipulates that the two institutions comprise representatives of political parties contending elections and government appointees.
The old election law, which was revised in 1985, allowed the government to play the key role in administering the polls. Many made accusations that this led to malfeasance in the elections held under the New Order, at the expense of democracy.
A special session of the People's Consultative Assembly, which was held five months after Soeharto resigned as president in May 1998, ordered a new election law that drastically reduced the government's role in the general election process.
KPU deputy chairman Adnan Buyung Nasution shared Jacob's view, saying that both government and party representatives in the two institutions should be phased out to make future elections run in a freer and fairer manner.
"In the future, elections should be run by independent professionals who have no interests in politics. They could come from universities, profession organizations, the media and non- governmental organizations," he said.
He said that the present election law needed reviewing because it was proven ineffective to creating a conducive climate for free and fair elections.
Ineffective
In his capacity as representative of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) in the KPU, Jacob said that his party aimed to review all judicial products, including the election law, if it wins the general election.
"According to my party, the election law is quite ineffective in ensuring a free and fair general election. The most recent polls have proven it," he said.
A provisional tally of the votes shows that PDI Perjuangan will obtain the lion's share of seats in the next House of Representatives.
Another speaker, Ryaas Rasyid, director general for public administration and regional autonomy, blamed the press and political experts for suggesting the necessity of parties being involved in the electoral administration.
"The law allows political parties to participate in the two institutions, thanks to persistent support from the press and many political experts, who wished to reinstate the old system applied in the 1955 multiparty elections," he said. The 1955 polls, the first held in the country since independence, saw deep involvement of parties in the event.
Ryaas, who led Team Seven, which designed the draft law on election, said that besides party and government representatives, those from independent organizations were originally included in the two institutions. But, the House rejected it in the plan to adopt the clause.
"However, the law remains open for amendments in the future," he added.
Asked his comments regarding representatives of parties that failed to reach the electoral threshold in the recent elections, Ryaas said that they have the right to stay for four years in the KPU and PPI.
"The law guarantees their presence in the two institutions. But, it is also their right to leave if they want to do so," he said, citing that KPU deputy chairman Harun Alrasid, also a representative of the Indonesian Ummat Party, would leave the KPU after his party failed to reach the electoral threshold.
He also said the government has never influenced government representatives in the two institutions, or given them guidelines to help make the elections free and fair.
"Therefore, we have no intention of pulling out Buyung and Andi Mallarangeng from he KPU," he said.
A group of KPU members petitioned the government recently to recall Andi and Buyung after the two called for representatives of parties that failed to reach the electoral threshold to be removed from the KPU and the PPI.
In Medan, provincial elections committee officials also demanded a review of the General Election Law, which they blamed for their inability to cope with elections' fraud and violations immediately.
Deputy chief of the committee, Ompu Monang Napitupulu, said on Sunday, "The law obliges us to listen to many parties before we make a verdict. We lack the power to act strongly against violations." (40/rms)