Voting rights of

Voting rights of the TNI and police

From Rakyat Merdeka

Polemics on the pros and cons of whether or not the military and the police should be able to enjoy their voting rights have taken a great portion of space in the mass media but, unfortunately, they have not touched upon which party -- the executive or the legislative branch of power -- had inserted this matter in the final version of the bill on political parties.

Or, perhaps, this item has been inserted upon the request of a particular foreign country. Or, again, perhaps this is only a ruse employed by certain quarters to discover public opinion on this matter.

Regardless of who has taken the initiative to insert this item in the bill on political parties, this franchise is a universal human right and every citizen is entitled to it. In fact, it should have been applied as soon as the 1945 Constitution was enacted.

In countries where democracy is more advanced, civilian bureaucracy and the military and police as citizens form part of the floating mass. These groups of people do not enjoy any privilege in this respect. In these countries, government officials are not worried that political parties, which vie with one another to win the hearts of this floating mass, will break up the military or police institutions.

It must be remembered that involving the public in debates over this matter is tantamount to bringing the country back to 19th century.

SUNGKOWO SOKAWERA

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