"This seriously undermines the independence of bodies and does not follow practices of progressive rights to information laws in other countries," Mondel said.

Source :  The Jakarta Post

The House of Representatives is still split over simultaneous legislative and presidential elections, one of the main issues in ongoing deliberations over the presidential election bill.

Ferry Mursyidan Baldan of the Golkar Party, the biggest faction at the House, said Sunday the simultaneous legislative and presidential elections would be made possible only in 2014 at the earliest.

"If the elections were held simultaneously in 2009, would it mean only parties who won House seats in the 2004 election were able to nominate presidential candidates?" Ferry questioned.

"Parties contesting for legislative seats in 2009 will certainly not accept this," he said.

The 2004 presidential elections were held three months after the legislative elections to elect House, regional legislative council and Regional Representatives Council members. In the first direct presidential election, candidates were nominated by parties that secured at least 5 percent of the vote in the legislative election.

Golkar has proposed the threshold be raised to 30 percent, while the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle demanded it increase to between 15 and 20 percent.

Among supporters of the joint elections are Vice President Jusuf Kalla, who chairs Golkar.

The National Awakening Party (PKB) faction has insisted Indonesia hold simultaneous elections in 2009 in order to simplify the electoral system and save money.

PKB member Ali Masykur Musa told the House special committee, deliberating the presidential election bill last week, that the simultaneous election would also allow voters to know the presidential candidates as early as possible.

The General Elections Commission is conducting an online survey of simultaneous legislative and presidential elections.

PKB faction chairman Hermawi Taslim criticized the survey for unfairness because it asks a leading question. Respondents are asked for their opinion on separate elections, rather than simultaneous elections.

The second biggest faction, PDI-P, and the National Mandate Party (PAN) have joined in support for the PKB.

Ferry said administering joint legislative and presidential elections next year would be unfeasible, now that the House is still debating the electoral threshold for the presidential election.

"If the simultaneous elections are accepted for next year, we must agree that only parties that won a minimum of 15 percent of the vote in 2004 legislative election are eligible to nominate candidates."

Ferry added that the PKB proposal would be met with opposition from parties that did not qualify and newcomers in the 2009 election.

The United Development Party (PPP) and Democrat Party have also rejected simultaneous elections, citing unreadiness of both voters and the General Elections Commission (KPU).

"Simultaneous elections will only confuse voters because they will mix up presidential and legislative election campaigns," PPP faction chairman Lukman Hakim Saifuddin said.

Desy Nurhayati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

If legislative seats are awarded to candidates who win the most votes, experts say, the election bill could provide fertile ground for Indonesia's democracy to evolve.

If lawmakers were committed to a more democratic election, former House of Representatives speaker Akbar Tandjung and Reforms Institute executive director Yudi Latif told Antara news agency Friday, they should endorse a bill that determines which candidates are elected based on votes they win, not the party list.

"Our electoral system will be more democratic if the legislative seats are chosen by voters' instead of going to the party favorites," former Golkar Party leader Akbar said.

The House delayed passing the election bill Thursday following a deadlock on how to determine elected candidates and the collection of residual votes. Lawmakers will vote on these two matters on Monday.

All factions have agreed any candidate who wins at least 30 percent of the vote distribution number (the total number of eligible voters in the electorate, divided by the number of seats available) will automatically secure legislative seats.

However, the two largest factions at the House, Golkar and the Indonesian Democratic Party, as well as the National Awakening Party, have insisted the remaining seats be distributed based on the party list.

Yudi said, for the sake of fairness and constituents' support, only candidates who secure the most votes deserve legislative seats.

"If a governor or regent is elected for winning the most votes, why aren't legislative members elected in the same way?" Yudi asked.

Such a mechanism, he said, would force politicians to come down to grassroots, instead of focussing on building relationships with party leaders.

Indonesia's legislative elections have traditionally only rewarded party loyalists, and only candidates at the top of party lists have secured legislative seats.

Political scholars have suggested the mechanism needs to change, citing a growing public distrust of lawmakers, not to mention their corruption-tarnished image.

Perception index surveys conducted by Transparency International over the past two years reveal the House and political parties were widely regarded as the most corrupt institutions in Indonesia.

Separately, the government said it could understand the House decision to delay the decision Thursday and would look forward to the bill's endorsement on Monday.

State Secretary Hatta Radjasa said, while the government would have preferred the House's unanimous approval of the bill, it respected the decision to hold the disputed articles to vote.

"We understand there are still several crucial matters that have not been agreed on among House factions, and we appreciate the ongoing democratic process for the sake of a better election," Hatta told reporters at State Palace.

"Of course, we all hope for a better, cheaper and more transparent system in the next election," he added.

He said voting should be the last resort to endorse the bill, in line with the democratic political system that Indonesia uses.

Adianto P. Simamora, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Poll surveyors have voiced their opposition to a law that would ban election-day "quick counts".

The draft election law, expected to be passed by the House of Representatives on Feb. 27, would keep surveyors from releasing estimates during the one-day period following the vote.

The protesting surveyors were the Center of Political Study at the University of Indonesia (Puskapol UI), the Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI), the Institute of Research, Education and Information on Social and Economic Affairs (LP3ES) and the Research and Development Center of Kompas daily.

They argued Tuesday that the quick count system is currently the only effective tool in preventing vote rigging in elections.

"It is a tool to check whether the number of votes is correctly tallied by comparing data from quick counts and official results," Puskapol UI director Sri Budi Eko Wardani told a news conference.

She said the House of Representatives should accept the current vote-count system as part of global measures to make the electoral system better.

"The quick count will help ensure transparency and the country's democracy work," she said.

Sri said quick counts might no longer be necessary once the country had managed to implement "real count" systems such as those in place in the United States and other developed countries.

"We would like to see the quick count results aired as soon as possible after the balloting," she said.

"One of the crucial phases in elections is the vote counting. It is very prone to manipulation. Therefore, the quick count is aimed at monitoring possible manipulations during the vote count."

The quick count was first introduced during the presidential election in 1999.

The practice caught on during the 2004 direct presidential election won by Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

"The quick count system is now common in regional elections across the country," Sri said, adding that the public appeared eager to hear preliminary results as soon as possible after polls closed.

National and regional election bodies typically don't issue official poll results until a month or so after voting ends.

The surveyors also opposed provisions of the draft election law which would prohibit publication of election surveys during three-day "quiet" periods that precede voting.

"Not every type of election survey can be prohibited. We want the House to be more specific. Which kind of surveys cannot be published during the quiet period?" said LSI executive director Saiful Mujani.

He said the concern of the House might be that the publication of poll surveys could influence people who hadn't voted yet and would be subject to manipulation.

"They also think the surveys could disturb the public and trigger conflicts."

Saiful, however, felt the benefits outweighed the risks. "For us, surveys are to measure public opinions on election. It is part of efforts to educate people about the election."

Beyond predicting who would win or lose — the primary issue focused on by the media — Saiful said exit surveys also served to collect data on preparations for elections, overall voter turnout trends and familiarity with poll programs.

The United States deems supporting democratization in Indonesia a priority, and whoever wins the American presidency will consider the Southeast Asian country an important partner, a U.S. congressman says.

"There is no difference between the American political parties and presidential candidates on the importance of this Indonesian relationship," David Price, who heads a six-member U.S. Congress delegation here, told reporters after a meeting with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono at the Presidential Office on Tuesday.

Price said both U.S. Republicans and Democrats as well as their presidential candidates realized the importance of the U.S. supporting democracy in Indonesia and committing to a solid partnership.

The six Congressmen are grouped under the House Democracy Assistance Commission (HDAC). They are visiting Indonesia to foster partnership with Indonesian House of Representatives members in line with the HDAC goal of empowering lawmakers in selected partner countries.

Earlier in the day, they met with the House's leading figures and signed an agreement on the continuation of the partnership.

"We know very well that while democracy requires free and fair elections, what happens between elections is equally important. And we're committed to the development of strong and responsive legislative institutions to link government to the people, and make sure that government is responsive to all the people's needs," Price said.

During the meeting, Yudhoyono expressed his commitment to democratization and vowed to enhance democratic partnership with the U.S.

"Indonesia has transformed itself into one of the world's biggest democracies in the last several years, and achieved a point of no return in the process," Yudhoyono said through his spokesman Dino Patti Djalal.

Price, however, said Indonesia was still dealing with obstacles to achieving full democracy, with the questions of civilian control over the military and human rights violations lingering on.

"We know that those problems are still being addressed. But there's no question that the progress toward democracy and realization of human rights are indeed irreversible. But the work of democracy is never done, and we know that in our country, believe me. And we're committed to walking this path with you," he said.

Price said President Yudhoyono had no doubt Indonesian progress toward democracy would continue.

The Congressmen and the President also discussed international issues, including problems in Myanmar, Lebanon and Darfur.

"The President conveyed his view that Indonesia supported Myanmar's plans for referendum and general election as long as the process is transparent and inclusive for groups outside the government," Dino said.

Price described his dialogue with Yudhoyono on Myanmar as "productive", stressing the country's need for a specific approach to overcome its problems.

HDAC is a bipartisan commission of the U.S. House of Representatives. It campaigns for responsive and effective government and strengthening democratic institutions in emerging democracies.

Lilian Budianto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

After a period of prolonged deliberation, the House of Representatives agreed late Thursday to compromise and set the vote division number (BPP) required for a candidate to win a legislative seat at 30 percent.

Roy B.B. Janis, a leader in the Renewed Democratic Party (PDP) praised the decision, saying the new BPP was an improvement on the old election law.

"The previous law failed to accommodate the interests of parties' chapter leaders because they would be placed at the bottom of the list. They had little chance of winning a House seat," said Roy at a discussion on the election bill at the House on Friday.

"With the 30 percent BPP, candidates at the bottom of the list will stand a chance," he added.

The BPP is calculated by dividing the number of votes a candidate receives by the number of legislative seats at stake in an electoral district.

The 2004 Election Law requires a candidate to have a BPP of 100 percent to secure a seat at the House. It means a candidate will only have a chance of securing a seat if he or she manages to obtain all of the vote or is ranked at the top of the party's candidate list.

Factions at the House deliberating the legislative election bill had been mostly divided between those proposing a 25 percent BPP and those proposing 35 percent.

Hadar Gumay of the Center for Electoral Reform said recently the lower the percentage of BPP, the higher the number of legislators that would be directly elected by people.

"A higher rate would mean that more legislative seats would go to candidates ranked on top or those who are the parties' loyalists," he said.

Ferry Mursyidan Baldan of the Golkar party faction told Friday's forum that the factions also agreed to enact an open proportional election system for the 2009 election.

With the agreement on mechanisms for elected legislative candidates and the election system, the factions will still be engaged in the deliberation of several other points in the election bill, including the number of House members, the size of electoral districts, vote-counting mechanisms and the threshold system.

According to Ferry, the factions are likely opt for a parliamentary threshold that would mark a shift from the 2004 electoral threshold as it would offer an opportunity for a new party to grow.

Under the 2004 electoral threshold system, any party failing to obtain 3 percent of the vote is not allowed to participate in the next election. Minor parties that failed to gather 3 percent of the vote in the 2004 election changed their names so that they would be deemed eligible to contest next year's elections.

"An electoral threshold will only produce recycled parties," said Ferry.

Moh. Chodarie, a political expert from survey group Indo Barometer, said that the parliamentary threshold would not only offer chances for new and small parties but would also allow a parliamentary simplification.

The deliberation of the bill had mostly met with deadlock as the factions insisted on their own proposals, causing the chairmen to extend the deadline for finalization of the election bill to Feb. 26 from the original date of Feb. 17.

Lilian Budianto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Army has increased its arms budget by 6.4 percent to Rp 1.86 trillion (US$202 million) for 2008, in response to an urgent need to replace much of its aging weaponry.

Army Chief of Staff Gen. Agustadi Sasongko announced at a hearing Monday with House of Representatives Commission I on defense, security and foreign affairs, that the Army had raised its budget to around Rp 16 trillion (US$1.73 billion), but Rp 12.73 trillion of that money would go to improving the welfare of personnel.

The Army has raised the salaries of its 298,500 soldiers by 20 percent this year.

Apart from routine expenditures, the Army will spend much on operations to maintain security in restive areas and border zones.

Agustadi said the budget would also cover maintenance for weaponry, which is estimated to cost some Rp 116.6 billion.

The weaponry capability of the Indonesian Military (TNI) has come under fire after a 46-year-old amphibious tank sank during a military exercise in the waters off the East Java town of Sidoarjo two weeks ago. The accident claimed the lives of seven marines.

The incident took place less than two months after the Navy grounded eight of its Nomad plane following an incident involving a Nomad P-833 plane, which crashed in Aceh, killing three passengers.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has called on the TNI to ground all of its aging war machines to prevent more accidents.

Agustadi said most of the Army's weaponry has been in use for more than 25 years, with some dating back to the 1960s.

"We acknowledge the need to renew our weaponry. However, the lack of budget has hampered us," he said.

He said the Army would need some Rp 622 trillion between 2008 and 2024 to build its Army units and replace aging weaponry.

"If we fail to meet the budget demands, it will risk weakening the Army's capability,consequently threatening our nation's sovereignty," he said.

The procurement of weaponry has also progressed slowly because some documents are stuck at the Finance Ministry due to legal matters, Agustadi added.

During the hearing, legislator Pupung Suharis of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) questioned frequent clashes between Army soldiers and police personnel, the latest being in Masohi in Central Maluku on Feb. 2.

"What triggered the conflict is actually trivial but it could turn into a massive communal conflict," Pupung said.

Agustadi said the Army would intensify formal and informal dialogue with the National Police, while improving the training for cadets to improve military professionalism.

The Army replaced its Central Maluku battalion commander, Lt. Col. Donny Hutabarat, following the attack on the Masohi Police office by a group of Army soldiers. The Army and police held a reconciliation meeting, and the TNI has launched investigations into the incident. No suspects have been named.

Departing from public expectations, the 2009 legislative election will likely grant more seats to political parties' loyalists than people's representatives.

Factions at the House of Representatives deliberating the legislative election bill are setting the vote division number (BPP) for a candidate to win a legislative seat at between 25 percent and 35 percent.

BPP is calculated by dividing the number of votes with the number of legislative seats at stake in an electoral district.

Hadar Gumay of the Center for Electoral Reform (CETRO) told a discussion on the bill here Friday that the higher the percentage of the BPP, the fewer the number of legislators that would be directly elected by people.

"Lowering the rate would, however, mean that more legislative seats would go to candidates ranked on top, or those who are the parties' loyalists," he said.

Hadar said if the 25 percent BPP was agreed upon, only 155 legislators, or 28.2 percent of the House's 550 members, would be directly elected by people.

Deputy head of the House's special committee deliberating the legislative election bill, Yasonna Laoly, said that factions at the House were now divided between those proposing a 25 percent BPP and those proposing 35 percent.

Yasonna said legislators would likely seek a compromise of 30 percent.

Political expert from the National Institute of Sciences (LIPI), Syamsuddin Haris, suggested the seats be reserved primarily for candidates who won the most votes. If that was not possible, then a lower BPP should be applied.

Syamsuddin said a 25 percent BPP was "nonsense".

Former member of the General Elections Commission (KPU), Valina Singka Subekti, said candidates should be elected based on BPP and not by ranking from parties, so as to motivate voters to know their representative candidates better.

Hadar and Syamsuddin, as well as Valina, also agreed on preserving the number of electoral districts.

There were 69 electoral districts in the 2004 legislative election, with each district having between three and 12 seats on offer.

Yasonna said while most factions preferred to preserve the seats allocation in an election district, the National Awakening Party insisted the seats allocation be reduced to between three and 10, while the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle wanted between three and seven.

The smaller number of seats allocated for each district, the greater the number of electoral districts.

Hadar said more electoral districts would benefit big parties the most thanks to their influence in the districts, but would be detrimental to small, medium-sized and new parties.

Syamsuddin and Valina warned the legislators deliberating the bill of the impacts of adding more electoral districts on fairness for smaller parties.

Both said extra electoral districts would mean more jobs for KPU members while the coming legislative election was drawing near. The KPU has scheduled the election to take place in April, 2009.

Yasonna said the bill's deliberation was expected to conclude late February.