‘People’s
Victory’ The House has ratified the emergency government regulation that
restores direct elections of regional leaders
Jakarta Globe, Markus Junianto Sihaloho & Yustinus Paat,Jan 21, 2015
Jakarta. The House of Representatives on Tuesday ratified into law an emergency government regulation that restores direct elections of regional leaders in Indonesia.
Jakarta. The House of Representatives on Tuesday ratified into law an emergency government regulation that restores direct elections of regional leaders in Indonesia.
The
ratification quickly drew praise from analysts who said that Indonesia’s
democracy was back on track.
“It’s a
people’s victory,” said Arie Sudjito, a political expert from the Gadjah Mada
University in Yogyakarta.
In
September, the House agreed on a proposal put forward by Susilo Bambang
Yudhoyono’s government to give local legislative councils the power to appoint
district heads, mayors and governors, ending nearly a decade of direct
elections.
The move sparked
anger from people across the country, accusing the House and Yudhoyono of
betraying the people, and claiming Indonesia’s democracy had returned to a
system similar with that of Suharto’s totalitarian New Order regime.
Many also
feared the opposition would dominate the regional leaders posts because they
dominate most of the legislative councils, opening the possibility for them to
block any policies by President Joko Widodo, who at that time was declared the
president-elect by the General Elections Commission (KPU) after he defeated
Prabowo Subianto in a tightly contested
national election.
After
seeing the public anger, Yudhoyono backpedaled, saying that he never wanted
indirect elections as his Democratic Party had proposed as a revision to the existing
system of direct elections.
He quickly
proposed an emergency government regulation, known as perppu, while declaring
that indirect election law was scrapped.
“Now, the
perppu has become a law. So we can begin direct elections in many regions
across the nation,” Arie said.
But the KPU
would not be able to make preparations for some 200 local elections, set to be
held simultaneously this year, as nine of the 10 factions at the House demanded
some changes in the newly passed law.
“Each
faction has presented its views, which in general accepts the perppu to be
ratified into law,” said Rambe Kamarul Zaman, chairman of the House Commission
II, which oversees home affairs.
Rambe was
referring to the government regulation in lieu of law passed by former
president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono during his last days in office.
The perppu
annulled the 2014 regional elections law, which eliminated regional elections
and instead provided authority for local legislatures to appoint governors,
district heads and mayors.
However,
Rambe said that most factions have urged for some changes to the new law.
“We will
propose a bill, drafted by House Commission II, which will improve the new law
pertaining to candidate eligibility, stages of elections and public hearings,
among others,” the Golkar Party politician said.
The
Democratic Party, chaired by the former president, was the only party that
opposed any revision arguing the law is already perfect.
“We don’t
want any more revisions. The regulation itself already contains enough
substance on the direct regional election system and revisions from the
previous law. It already includes suggestions to make the elections better,”
Commission II member Saan Mustopa, a Democrat, said on Tuesday.
Moreover,
making revisions will take time and Indonesia needs the new law immediately,
Saan added, as more than 200 local elections are set to be held this year.
The process
of preparing more changes will affect the preparations for local elections, he
stressed.
“It will be
difficult for the KPU to do its job,” the politician said.
Last year,
parties from the opposition Red-White Coalition, including representatives of
the National Mandate Party (PAN), the Golkar Party and the Great Indonesia
Movement Party (Gerindra), voted in favor of abolishing regional elections.
But their
stance changed after the Democratic Party announced that it would be leaving the bloc.
All 10
factions at the House on Monday expressed their commitment to ratify the
perppu. House Speaker Setya Novanto called on Commission II members to expedite
the drafting of the new bill and conclude the ratification process before the
House sitting period ends on Feb. 18.
“I have
asked each faction to conclude the revision during this sitting period so they
would not disrupt the simultaneous regional elections schedule,” said Setya,
who is also a Golkar politician.
Meanwhile,
Deputy Speaker Fadli Zon, of Gerindra, said the revision would not change the
substance of the newly passed law. He added that the changes “are very
technical.”
Home
Affairs Minister Tjahjo Kumolo said the government was open to revisions and
pledged to work with the House “intensively” on the planned revisions.
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