Armando Siahaan – Lawmakers from House of Representatives Commission II failed once again on Thursday to reach a consensus on the draft of a revision to the 2007 Law on Election Organizers, which could allow elements of political parties to become members of election management bodies.
The commission, which oversees domestic affairs, was scheduled to finalize the draft on Thursday.
However, two of the nine factions on the commission – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's Democratic Party and the National Mandate Party (PAN) – disagreed on the draft, and called for the session to be adjourned to Tuesday.
The dispute mainly revolves around incorporating members of political parties into bodies that manage and supervise elections, like the General Elections Commission (KPU) and the Elections Supervisory Board (Bawaslu).
The current law stipulates that a political party member can only become a member of these election bodies five years after having officially resigned from the party.
Another disputed article deals with the appointment of the committee to select members of election bodies. The revision aims to include the legislature in the process, whereas the government has the full authority based on the current law.
The idea of allowing members of political parties into election management bodies has been met by heavy criticism from the KPU and Bawaslu as well as a string of political watchdogs, which argue that it could result in abuse of the election process by political parties.
Commission II chairman Chairuman Harahap, from the Golkar Party, said he was hoping that the draft could be finalized by next week.
Ganjar Pranowo, a commission deputy chairman and a member of the opposition Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), was more skeptical.
He said if the Democrats and PAN maintained their opposition, the draft of the bill would never make it to the House legislation body and its plenary session. And after that, it still has to be discussed with the government.
Ganjar said that even if the current draft was agreed upon, it would likely face more opposition during the House plenary session and the deliberation phase involving the government.
"There will be stronger opposition," he said, adding that the government would most likely disapprove of the draft.
Jufri, a Democratic lawmaker, told the Jakarta Globe that his party wanted election organizers to be free from political partisanship, and therefore would not change the current law.
Democrats believe that partisanship could jeopardize the objectivity of the bodies running elections, Jufri said, adding that it would be impossible for parties not to politicize the process.
Teguh Juwarno, a commission deputy chairman from PAN, also said his party wanted election organizers to be nonpartisan.
"The KPU should be the referee and politicians should be the players," he said, adding that it was unlikely PAN would change its position.
PDI-P's Ganjar lambasted the Democrats' refusal to agree on the draft, calling it inconsistent with their own political practices.
Ganjar referred to the recent appointment of serving KPU commissioner Andi Nurpati to the executive board of the Democratic Party. "Their argument is illogical," he said.