PDI-P insists on keeping proportional electoral system

PDI-P insists on keeping proportional electoral system

Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

A special committee of the House of Representatives will this
week start debate on the electoral system, with the largest
faction, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI
Perjuangan), insisting on maintaining the current proportional
system.

PDI Perjuangan legislator Firman Jaya Daeli confirmed on
Saturday that his faction would fight for the maintenance of the
proportional system although critics said that the system negated
the accountability of legislators to their constituents.

"Our agenda is to maintain the current proportional system. We
will fight to push our proposal," said Firman.

The committee deliberating the electoral system is one of four
special committees established by the House to debate contentious
aspects of the electoral bill. All of the proceedings in the four
committees are closed to the public.

Firman noted that his faction's wish to keep the current
proportional system was based on Article 22 (e) of the 1945
Constitution, which says that the contestants elections to the
House of Representatives, and provincial, regency and
municipality legislative councils are political parties.

"It is the political parties that will determine (who becomes
legislators). The issue of accountability is the responsibility
of the parties during the process of recruiting candidates to
stand for election," Firman said.

In past elections, Indonesia used what is termed the
proportional system here, a system in which the people vote for
political parties, and individual candidates.

This system is widely criticized for distancing legislators
and councillors from their constituents as their primary loyalty
is to their parties.

Minister of Home Affairs Hari Sabarno openly criticized the
proportional system for offering voters "a cat in the bag,"
meaning that the voters did not know who their representatives
would be.

Hari said that the proportional system was not democratic as
it allowed the central board of a political party to appoint its
preferred cadres as legislative candidates.

Therefore, Hari proposed that the electoral bill combine the
proportional system with the inclusion of lists of individual
candidates on the ballot papers.

This way, people would see who the candidates of the parties
they were choosing were.

The PDI Perjuangan, however, is not the only faction that has
rejected the government's proposal to apply a combination of the
proportional system and an open-list of candidates.

The second largest faction in the House, the Golkar Party
faction, has said it intended to reject the combined system.
According to Golkar, there was no need to refer to the electoral
system in the bill.

The United Development Party (PPP), the third largest faction,
meanwhile asked for more explanations about the combined system.

Three other factions, the National Awakening Party (PKB), the
Reform (a coalition of the National Mandate Party and the Justice
Party) and the Indonesian Military (TNI)/Police factions
supported the adoption of a combined proportional and open-list
system.

The bill stipulates that the elections for members of the
House, and provincial, regency and municipality legislatures be
conducted using the proportional system, with an open-list of
candidates.

During one hearing with the electoral bill committee, Minister
Hari said that the adoption of the new electoral system would
help promote the accountability of legislators.