Small parties may field presidential candidates
Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The debate on which political parties can field candidates in the 2004 presidential election may soon come to an end as most factions in the House have suggested that parties winning three percent of the seats in the House should be able to join the race.
All factions except Golkar have reached a common understanding that more parties should participate in the elections in 2004, when the country is expected to organize the first ever direct presidential election.
Golkar, which served as the political vehicle of former president Soeharto for more than three decades, insisted that only parties that garnered at least 20 percent of the votes in the House, as proposed by the government, should be allowed to contest the presidential election.
The factions also agreed that the legislative and presidential elections be held separately, but have still to decide on the interval between the two elections.
"We have not agreed on whether the presidential election will be held three months, two months or one month after the legislative election," said Barlianta Harahap, chairman of the United Development Party (PPP) faction here on Wednesday.
The General Elections Commission (KPU) had scheduled the legislative election for April 5, 2004, and the presidential election between June and August.
Previously, the PDI Perjuangan and Golkar factions supported the government's idea of adopting a 20 percent threshold.
The PDI Perjuangan and Golkar, which collected 153 and 120 seats respectively in the 1999 elections, were the only two parties that met the 20 percent quota.
The smaller factions rejected the stipulation and tried to block it by demanding that the elections for the president and legislative members be held simultaneously to avoid the threshold.
Minister of Home Affairs Hari Sabarno had repeatedly said that the stipulation allowing only those political parties winning at least 20 percent of the seats in the House was designed to ensure that the elected president had sufficient support in the legislature.
This, the minister said, would ensure a stable government in order to lead the country out of the current economic crisis.
With the acceptance by the factions of separate elections, it is likely that the three percent threshold will be accepted.
Effendi Choirie of the National Awakening Party (PKB) revealed that most factions had agreed to adopt a three percent threshold for political parties in nominating presidential candidates.
Choirie emphasized, however, that the factions could not reach a consensus on the requirements for a figure to be nominated as a president candidate.
The Golkar and Reform factions insisted that a presidential candidate must have at least a university degree, but PDI Perjuangan rejected the clause, apparently because its chairwoman Megawati has only a senior high school certificate.
The PDI Perjuangan faction meanwhile defended a clause that a criminal suspect, let alone a person convicted of a crime, must not be allowed to contest the election.
Golkar, headed by veteran politician Akbar Tandjung, who had been sentenced to three years in jail for corruption, rejected the clause.
"Basically, all factions are negotiating with each other to settle the arguments," Barlianta told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.
Faction leaders had conducted negotiations twice at the Horison Hotel and Hilton Hotel in Jakarta. The negotiation settled some contentious issues, but others remain unsolved.
Barlianta said the leaders of political parties would intervene should faction leaders fail to settle the problems.
He added that the legislators hoped to bring the presidential election bill to a plenary session on July 7 for endorsement.