“We have never brought a draft revision of a law to the plenary session for voting, but the regulation allows us to do so should we fail to reach a consensus,” commission chairman Chairuman Harahap told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.

Legislators deliberating the revision to the 2007 law on election organizers are divided over the issue.

The ruling Democratic Party and the National Mandate Party (PAN) insist that politicians should be barred from the general election commissions at all levels to guarantee their impartiality.

The rest of the party factions at the House of Representatives, including the Golkar Party, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), believe otherwise, saying that politicians are professionals capable of overseeing elections.

The debate has brought the deliberation on the bill, which began in March and was initially slated to finish by the end of this year, to a stalemate.

The commission aimed to complete the bill deliberation early next year, Chairuman said, adding that the lawmakers would still have time to do last-ditch lobbying.

Golkar and PDI-P have proposed a vote to end the deadlock and speed up the deliberation of the bill, which many said should be immediately passed into law to give more time for the poll body to prepare for the 2014 elections.

Abdul Hakim Naja, a deputy chairman of the Commission II from the PAN, disagreed with the proposal, saying it would set a bad precedent for the legislature.

“There is another way to solve this gridlock. We can send two drafts, which would include both points, to the government so that they can serve as a mediator to decide which draft will be chosen,” he told the Post.

Legal expert Irman Putra Sidin said he saw no urgency for the draft to be taken to the plenary session for voting. “We can still have an election even if there is no revision on the 2007 law. They [legislators] should take time to lobby each other,” he said.

Indonesian Survey Institute senior researcher Burhanuddin Muhtadi concurred with Irman, saying that a vote would only favor parties that wanted to meddle with the nation’s poll body.

“The public believes that members of any political party should not be allowed to join the election commissions,” he said. “It’s impossible for a player to play the role of a referee,” he added.

Twenty five non-governmental organizations, including the Centre for Electoral Reform, the Consortium for National Law Reformation, the Peoples Voter Education Network, and the Political Study at the University of Indonesia opposed the plan to allow members of political parties to join as election operators early this month.

Burhanuddin said the Democrat Party and the PAN should persuade their partners in the coalition such as Golkar and the PKS to change their position. (rch)


The bill deliberation was initially slated to finish by the end
of this year.

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