State Policy Guidelines draft close to completion
JAKARTA (JP): The People's Consultative Assembly is on course to complete the draft of the 1998/2003 State Policy Guidelines, pending a compromise on political and religious matters.
Chief of the Assembly ad hoc committee deliberating the draft, R. Hartono, said after a session yesterday that the committee would start discussing the remaining, but demanding, issues today.
Among the most contentious points remaining is a clause being pushed by the two minority factions to allow political organizations to partake in the organization of polls with the government, and for civil servants to be allowed to vote other than Golkar in elections.
If no agreement is reached before the Assembly's recess between Dec. 22, 1997 and Jan. 3, 1998, the debates will be continued in a smaller synchronizing team. The work must be completed before Jan. 23 next year.
The committee's secretary, Rully Chairul Azwar, said it would be difficult to agree with the United Development Party (PPP) and the Indonesian Democratic Party's (PDI) demand that political organizations contesting the general elections be allowed to jointly organize the polls with the government.
"It's very difficult to grant the demand, because a poll contestant cannot play double roles. However, we agree that in the future we have to improve the quality of general elections," Rully of dominant Golkar faction said.
He said the two minority parties also urged the Assembly to approve a clause which gives civil servants the right to vote for a poll contestant other than Golkar.
"The monoloyalty principle must persist, because such a freedom will hamper efforts to enhance professionalism of civil servants and send us back to the Old Order era," Rully argued.
Civil servants, banded under the Civil Servants Corps (Korpri), are required to support Golkar.
Faiths
The PPP faction is calling for the exclusion of nondenominational faiths from the religious development section in the state guidelines.
Golkar, the Armed Forces faction and regional representatives rejected the motion.
In another session yesterday, the Assembly committee in charge of nonstate policy guidelines remained split on PPP's draft of democratic economy.
Golkar, the Armed Forces and regional representatives factions rejected the draft, saying that the State Policy Guidelines already recognized democracy in the country's economic system, and therefore a separate Assembly decree was unnecessary.
PDI did not turn down the proposal, but suggested PPP combine its motion with PDI's own draft of Pancasila democracy.
The debate on PPP's draft will continue tomorrow. (amd)