Amy Chew, Jakarta – Indonesian legislators have unanimously backed sweeping political reforms proposed by President B.J. Habibie to make the nation more democratic, officials said on Wednesday.
Draft laws on political parties and elections are at the heart of the reforms pledged by Habibie, who took power when former President Suharto stepped down in May amid mass protests, crippling economic crisis and deadly riots.
"Everyone supports the basic idea of the draft laws. No objections have been raised, only questions," Ryaas Rasyid, head of the law drafting team, told Reuters after a parliament hearing on the laws. "I am optimistic the laws can be passed by the end of this year," he said.
A draft law on general elections proposes a combination of a district system, under which the electorate would vote directly for representatives, as well as proportional representation. Another draft law on political parties would pave the way for the recognition of more than 80 political parties which have mushroomed following Suharto's ouster.
Under Suharto, the government only recognised three political parties – the ruling Golkar party, the Moslem oriented United Development party (PPP) and the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI).
A draft law on the composition of parliament proposes reducing the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) to 700 people from the current 1,000 and increasing the number of elected members in it. The number of elected parliamentarians in the assembly, the country's top legislative body, will be increased to 550 from 500. Of the remaining 150, 55 will be appointed military officers and 95 will be selected by other parliamentarians.
Under Suharto's regime, 425 members of the assembly were elected, 75 military officers were named by him and another 500 were appointed by presidential decree.
Ryaas and his colleagues had earlier warned legislators not to delay the passage of the laws as this could cause more unrest in the crisis-racked country. Students have stepped up their protests in recent weeks demanding that anti-reform and corrupt legislators be removed from parliament as they would not reflect the aspiration of the people.
Ryaas said parliament members did not want to be held responsible by the people for delaying general elections by holding up the passage of the laws. "The legislators are all working very hard because they know the consequences of delaying general elections," he said, adding that his team was now working on replying to all questions raised by October 21.
Golkar party member Moeljono urged parliament members to work together to complete work on the laws within the given timeframe. Indonesia is aiming to hold parliamentary elections on May 26 after the draft laws are adopted and will convene a special session of the MPR in December 1999 to elect a president and vice president.