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Political overhaul: Lawmakers prepare omnibus laws to change electoral system
Through the deliberation of the draft omnibus laws, the lawmakers will also probably revise the existing electoral systems, including whether elections should be held simultaneously.
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Lawmakers discuss the election bill at the House of Representatives in Jakarta in this May 2019 photo. (Antara/Wahyu Putro A)
T
he government and lawmakers have agreed to produce omnibus laws that will serve as umbrella legislation for a variety of laws related to politics, with the main objective being to merge revisions of all regulations on politics and elections into comprehensive legislation.
Through the deliberation of the draft omnibus laws, the lawmakers will also probably revise the existing electoral systems, including whether elections should be held simultaneously.
Home Minister Tito Karnavian met on Wednesday with secretaries-general from political parties at the House of Representatives to discuss the issue.
Home Ministry acting director-general for politics and government Bahtiar said that by drafting compatible legislation on elections, he hoped there would be no need for law amendments every time the country organized elections, as occurs today.
He said some issues might surface during the deliberation, such as whether the legislative and presidential elections should be held simultaneously and whether direct regional elections in certain provinces should be scrapped.
"I think we are open to any possible modification. All parties have shared their views,” Bahtiar said on Wednesday, adding that political system reform was important amid the prevailing problems of democracy, such as a lack of transparency, high-cost elections and political corruption.
The idea of reorganizing the country’s political system through the issuance of omnibus laws was proposed by House of Representatives Commission II overseeing home affairs to the Home Ministry in December 2019, when they were discussing which bills should be included in the 2020-2024 National Legislation Program (Prolegnas), said the commission’s chairman Ahmad Doli Kurnia of the Golkar Party.
