Problematic issues may hold up electoral bill once again
Problematic issues may hold up electoral bill once again
Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The endorsement of the electoral bill may be delayed again as the
factions in the House of Representatives (DPR) have still not
reached an agreement on which institution the General Elections
Commission (KPU) should be accountable to.
The Ministry of Home Affairs proposal that the KPU be made
accountable to the President has been supported only by the
National Awakening Party (PKB) and the Indonesian Nationhood
Unity (KKI) factions.
The big factions say that the KPU should be an independent
state agency, and should be free from outside interference.
"I don't think we'll be able to finish this debate by Feb. 11.
Hopefully, the delay won't be more than a week," said Ferry
Mursyidan Baldan, deputy chairman of the special committee
deliberating the electoral bill. The committee had targeted Feb.
11 as the day on which the bill would be endorsed.
PKB spokesman Sofwan Chudhorie insisted that the President
should be responsible for the entire electoral process with the
KPU only being responsible for organizing the election.
Citing the example of the 1999 election, Sofwan said that
there were differences between the number of votes at the
national level and those in some regions. The problem was settled
by then President B.J. Habibie.
"I think it was the right decision. The President should be
made responsible for elections," Sofwan asserted.
Commenting on the fears that the President would interfere
with the work of the KPU, Sofwan simply said that the House was
there to oversee the government.
Legislator Pataniari Siahaan of the Indonesian Democratic
Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) insisted that the KPU should
not be subordinate to any other state institution.
"The KPU must be independent so as to avoid conflicts of
interest," he said.
Pataniari suggested that there should be a law on state
administration that would clearly define the status of and
relations between state institutions and agencies.
Legislators have also been busy lobbying each other to find
solutions to some unfinished issues ranging from electoral
thresholds, explanations of the proportional system, and on
whether or not state officials will be allowed to campaign.
"We are working on these issues," Ferry said.
Ferry, from the Golkar Party faction, acknowledged that
although all nine factions had agreed to adopt an open-list
proportional system, the factions had yet to agree on the
technicalities.
Unlike elections in the past in which people voted only for
political parties, in the 2004 elections people will be able to
directly elect their representatives and the political party as
well.
Previously, legislators had pledged to finish deliberating the
electoral bill by Jan. 30, but this was delayed until Feb. 11 due
to disagreements over a number of articles.