PPP seeks House support for electoral reform

PPP seeks House support for electoral reform

JAKARTA (JP): The United Development Party (PPP) faction
received orders from the PPP's executive board yesterday to seek
support in the House of Representatives for its "initiative bill"
to amend the country's electoral laws.

A team from the Moslem-based party, led by Ali Hardi
Kiaidemak, submitted the document to the House's PPP faction,
whose chairman, Hamzah Haz, promised to consult other factions
and make the bill "a collective product".

"We thank the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) faction for
its support of this initiative bill, and we'll proceed by
consulting other factions," Hamzah was quoted by Antara as
saying.

For the past several months, PPP chairman Ismail Hasan
Metareum has complained of fraud during elections, and pledged to
push for reforms.

During the Jan. 5 celebration of the party's 23rd anniversary,
Ismail Hasan said the executive board would instruct its
legislators to push for the establishment of laws to improve
general election procedures.

The PDI, the other minority party that shares the PPP's
complaints, supported the move, but the ruling Golkar was not
thrilled.

Golkar deputy chairman Ismael Hassan said changes in the
electoral laws will "destroy the implementation of the 'fiesta of
democracy' which has been proceeding well" in Indonesia.

The term "fiesta of democracy" is used widely here to describe
the general elections.

Antara quoted Ismael as saying in Pontianak on Thursday that
Golkar does not have the slightest intention to change the
electoral laws. "These 'fiestas of democracy' we have held were
the... safest in the world," he said.

The DPR's fourth faction, the Armed Forces, took a more
cautious stance. Chairman Suparman Achmad, as quoted by Media
Indonesia, suggested yesterday that the PPP postpone their
initiative.

"It would be better if the PPP used the available time to
prepare for the approaching general elections (in 1997)," he
said, adding that it would take at least 16 months for the DPR to
deliberate such a bill.

"And it does not even have the government's approval," he
pointed out. "If the government objects, then the bill won't be
deliberated."

Hamzah tried to justify the PPP's move yesterday on the
grounds that the 1988 and 1993 Guidelines for State Policies call
for better general elections and greater roles for the election
contestants, namely the PPP, PDI, and Golkar.

Besides, he said, "the PPP will not push for anything strange
or completely new".

"What we will be proposing, instead, are issues which are
often discussed and problems for all of us," he said. "There's
nothing in the bill which could disrupt the general elections
because it's for the good of us all."

Reforms

According to DPR statutes, a bill to initiate an amendment of
laws must be submitted by at least 20 legislators from more than
one faction.

The PPP will push for reforms on the preparations, the
implementation and the supervision of general elections.

President Soeharto instructed the Indonesian Institute for
Sciences (LIPI) last year to examine the electoral system and
propose changes if necessary. Among the subjects studied was
whether Indonesia should replace the existing proportional
representative system with a first-past-the-post or district
system.

While Golkar said it was ready to compete based on any system,
both the PPP and PDI have maintained that a stronger monitoring
mechanism must be implemented for general elections to proceed
fairly. The two minority parties also insist that more efforts be
made to prevent cheating and manipulation.

Meanwhile, LIPI chairman Soefjan Tsauri said on Thursday that
the institute is ready to submit the results of its study to
President Soeharto.

"We are just waiting to meet the President," Soefjan said.
(swe)