PDI Perjuangan wants simultaneous elections in 2004
PDI Perjuangan wants simultaneous elections in 2004
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja and Muhammad Nafik, The Jakarta Post,
Jakarta
President Megawati Soekarnoputri's Indonesian Democratic Party of
Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) has backed calls for both presidential
and legislative elections to take place at the same time in 2004,
citing economic and socio-political reasons.
"For now, we still believe that it would be more appropriate
to hold simultaneous elections for the presidency and the
legislature," PDI Perjuangan secretary-general Soetjipto quoted
Megawati as saying.
Speaking to journalists after a weekly meeting at the party's
head office in South Jakarta on Tuesday, Soetjipto argued that it
would be more efficient to hold the elections concurrently.
He added that simultaneous elections for the presidency and
legislature would curb possible outbreaks of social and political
tension or clashes between supporters of rival political groups,
which had been frequent in the past.
Megawati's views contradicts those of the leaders of other
political parties, who insist on maintaining the old practice of
separating the presidential election from the poll for the
legislature.
According to Soetjipto, Megawati told the meeting that the
state budget deficit and popular emotions should be taken into
account in deciding on the best arrangements for elections.
"Two separate elections mean more money and the time gap will
end up producing a prolonged period of uncertainty," Soetjipto
said.
He warned that election campaigns had always affected the
country's political stability and that the PDI Perjuangan could
not imagine the risks involved in organizing separate
presidential and legislative elections.
However, he said that the nation's biggest party would not
rule out the possibility of changing its stance on the holding of
both elections.
"We can still change our stance if we deem it more
advantageous to hold the two elections separately," Soetjipto
remarked.
Public debate has surfaced on whether it will be efficient and
effective to hold the presidential and legislative elections
separately or simultaneously.
The General Elections Commission (KPU) has set the date for
the general election to elect a new legislature for June 2004,
but has refrained from setting a date for the direct presidential
election.
The House of Representatives and the government are currently
deliberating the political bills, during which process the date
of the election will be decided upon.
However, deputy KPU chairman Ramlan Surbakti suggested on
Tuesday that the presidential and legislative elections be held
separately in order to ensure their quality.
"The presidential and legislative elections should not be held
simultaneously as this would undermine the quality of both
polls," he said.
"If the elections are held at the same time, many political
issues will run out of control and this will make the elections
defective," Surbakti added.
Bambang Widjojanto, a senior activist from the Partnership for
Governance Reform in Indonesia, said that even if the
presidential and legislative elections were to be held at
different times, they should still both be held in 2004.
Electoral timetables outlined by KPU
November 2002 - April 2003: Registration and verification of
political parties contesting general elections.
June 2003: Decision on eligible parties contesting elections.
July 2003: Deadline for voter registration and announcement of
number of contested seats for local councils.
August 2003: Nomination of local and central legislators by
parties and members of regional representatives council (DPD) by
individuals.
September-October 2003: Public responses to list of names of
legislative candidates.
November 2003: Announcement of permanent lists of local and
national legislators, and DPD members.
December 2003: Nomination of presidential and vice presidential
candidates by political parties.
January 2004: Announcement of permanent list of voters.
February 2004: Public responses to presidential and vice
presidential candidates.
March 2004: Announcement of eligible presidential and vice
presidential candidates.
April-May 2004: Election campaigns by political parties.
June 2004: Voters go to the polls and announcement of election
winners
July 2004: Announcement of elected legislative candidates.
Date of direct presidential election depends on deliberation of
political bills in the House of Representatives.