Problematic issues may hold up electoral bill yet 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.