T

he government and the House of Representatives have agreed to drop a public-review mechanism from the newly passed Regional Elections Law, arguing that the procedure would limit the ability of political parties to select qualified candidates.

The public review was a new procedure introduced in the law that has also mandated concurrent local elections for regional heads.

The chairman of House Commission II overseeing governance, regional autonomy, state apparatus and agrarian affairs, Rambe Kamarulzaman, said the revision, which was currently being discussed at the House, aimed at reinstating the right of political parties, or coalitions of political parties, to independently select their preferred candidates for local leadership posts.

However, Rambe dismissed suggestions that the recent maneuver on the local election law would remove the public'€™s right to give input to political parties regarding the proposed candidates, as people could exercise their political rights at the polls by selecting their '€œbest candidate'€ on the ballot papers.

'€œOnly political parties have the right to decide who should and should not be endorsed on the local leaders'€™ tickets [not the public]. The House and the government have the same shared vision on [the exclusion of] a public-review mechanism,'€ Rambe said over the weekend.

Home Minister Tjahjo Kumolo, who is a politician from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), supported Rambe'€™s arguments.

'€œDon'€™t let the public-review mechanism annul the right of political parties to endorse candidates or independent candidates in local elections. The plan is also meant to protect the dignity and authority of political parties that have screened their candidates through a number of tests,'€ Tjahjo said.

Tjahjo added that political parties would do their best to select qualified candidates to be endorsed as candidates '€œto make sure that people can choose the best from among the best candidates'€ by the time the local election was held.

Separately, executive director of the Association for Elections and Democracy (Perludem), Titi Anggraini, lashed out at the House and the government for planning to scrap the public-review mechanism, saying the plan must be rejected.

Titi said the public-review mechanism was established based on the spirit of transparency and aimed at ending the elite-based endorsement system of local-leadership candidates, which had been ongoing for decades among political parties.

Titi acknowledged that the public-review mechanism stipulated in the new law was far from perfect as more discussions at the House were needed to find the best way to implement it in the future.

'€œInstead of scrapping it, the House of representatives should find ways to improve public participation. The concept stipulated in the new local election law is not yet in its optimal form but for sure the spirit of its establishment could trigger many positive things in the future,'€ Titi said on Sunday.

Titi said that if political parties had high confidence that they could select the best candidates for regional leadership posts then they should not be afraid of holding a public review to confirm their abilities to the public.