New election bill discussion is positive: Experts

Abdul Khalik , The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Sat, 03/15/2008 11:57 AM | National

Several political experts say they welcome recent legislative efforts to simplify the election system and strengthen the president's position, but caution more discussion is necessary.

Election expert at the University of Indonesia and member of the Center for Electoral Reform (Cetro) Ani W. Soetjipto said Friday a proposal to tighten requirements for parties to nominate presidential candidates was a move in the right direction, but needed revising.

A stricter requirement for a party or coalition of parties to be eligible to name presidential candidates should aim at reducing election costs, time and procedures, she said.

"I agree the new bill should limit the election process to just one round, instead of two rounds like the last presidential election, to save money and time," she told The Jakarta Post.

"A high threshold for a party to name a candidate can create just one round because there will only be two or three pairs of contestants."

However, Ani said the tight requirement should not mean blocking small parties from presidential nominations.

Major parties should consider public concerns over the difficulty for candidates from minor political parties to contest for the presidency, she said.

"I think the proposed threshold of 30 percent is too high. It immediately shuts off the chance of small parties to name candidates.

"I think 15 percent to 20 percent is the reasonable range to accommodate both ... simplification and representation," she said.

The Golkar Party, the largest faction in the House, has proposed that only a party or coalition of parties winning 30 percent of votes in the 2009 legislative election be eligible to nominate presidential candidates.

The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) made a similar proposal, suggesting a number of 25 percent.

The two major parties wanted the proposals included in a new bill on presidential elections currently under deliberation at the House.

The current law on presidential elections requires a minimum 15 percent of votes for nominating candidates.

Critics have accused Golkar and the PDI-P of attempting to sideline smaller parties or prevent incumbent President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono from running in the next presidential race.

Yudhoyono was directly elected president in 2004 on a ticket from his Democratic Party, which garnered only 10 percent of the votes in the national legislative election that year.

Senior Golkar lawmaker Ferry Mursyidan Baldan, who chairs the House's working committee deliberating the new presidential election bill, said his party only aimed to simplify the process and strengthen the president's political position.

"The 30 percent is our initial proposal. We'll see the reaction. We just want to avoid repeating an unstable and weak administration that gains little support from the legislature," he told the Post.

Satya Arinanto, a constitutional law expert at the University of Indonesia, said to strengthen the presidential office more regulations were needed to prevent politicians from usurping the President's authority.

"The presidential election bill is only one of the draft laws on politics currently under deliberation. We need other laws such as one on the position of the president.

"The high threshold is not the only mechanism to strengthen the executive position," he said.

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