PAN: Political Parties Law Does Not Detail Term Limits for General Chairmen

Jakarta (ANTARA) - Deputy General Chairman of the National Mandate Party (PAN), Viva Yoga Mauladi, stated that Law Number 2 of 2011 on Political Parties does not detail the periodicity of terms for general chairmen.

This statement was made by Viva Yoga in response to the Corruption Eradication Commission’s proposal regarding limiting the term of general chairmen of political parties to a maximum of two periods to prevent corruption.

“PAN believes that the Political Parties Law does not regulate in detail the term periodicity for general chairmen of political parties. This is based on the constitutional guarantee of citizens’ rights to associate and assemble,” said Viva Yoga in a statement received in Jakarta on Friday.

According to him, political parties cannot be equated with state institutions that have term limits for their leaders. He noted that political parties are civil society organisations given public roles, different from state institutions that hold power to manage the state.

“Political parties are civil society organisations founded by a group of citizens with the same worldview and interests, sharing the same fate and suffering, and having the same goals,” he said.

Therefore, added Viva Yoga, the Political Law gives full authority to parties to regulate their internal affairs independently.

“Parties can argue that they are private-political organisations entitled to determine their own leadership,” he stated.

For PAN, the internal life of political parties as regulated in the Articles of Association and Bylaws (AD/ART) reflects the collective will of the party’s executives and members.

Meanwhile, regarding the KPK’s concern that blocked cadre development would sow the seeds of graft, Viva Yoga said that Indonesian society is not politically blind.

“It is certain that they will not vote for that party in the next election because the party will lose its legitimacy base from the people,” he said.

“The matter of who becomes the general chairman of a political party is the collective will within the political party. There should be no intervention from any party or anyone outside the political party,” Viva Yoga concluded.

Previously, the KPK explained that the proposal to regulate the limitation of general chairmen of political parties to a maximum of two terms of office was submitted as part of corruption prevention.

The KPK’s proposal was put forward for corruption prevention in line with findings that political party cadre development is not running well, leading to entry fees for individuals to become party cadres and to be endorsed in general elections.

To support good cadre development, the KPK, among other things, proposes regulations on term limits for general chairmen of political parties up to a maximum of two terms of office.