Electoral law amendments aim to kill off potential rivals

Kompas - December 30, 2010

Jakarta – The House of Representatives (DPR) for the period 2009-2014 has been deliberating a packet of three political laws, namely Law Number 22/2007 on Election Organisers, Law Number 2/2008 on Political Parties and Law Number 10/2008 on the Election of Members of the DPR, DPD and DPRD. However from the deliberation of these three laws, it is apparent that the DPR is not considering the interests of the nation or the country, but is prioritising the interests of individual parties.

This was conveyed by Indonesia Parliamentary Centre (IPC) Research Division Coordinator Ahmad Hanafi in the IPC's End of Year Report on Wednesday December 29. "Out of the packet of three political laws deliberated by the DPR in 2010, it is very apparent that they have tried to slip the interests of the political parties into the amendments to the laws", he said.

Hanafi said that in the revisions to Law Number 22/2007, the political parties have tried to co-opt organisers by including members on electoral bodies such as the General Election Commission (KPU), the General Elections Supervisory Board (Bawaslu) and the Election Organisers Honorary Council (DKPP).

In addition to this, he continued, in the revisions to the law on political parties, the parties that hold seats in the DPR are attempting to inhibit the growth and development of new parties, yet this is guaranteed under the 1945 Constitution. Meanwhile, Hanafi said, in the amendments on the elections of members of the DPR, the Regional Representatives Council and the Regional House of Representatives, the political parties in the DPR are seeking to maintain their power by ignoring the principles of democracy.

Speaking separately, Social Synergy for Indonesian Democracy (Sigma) Coordinator Said Salahudin said that the DPR, which has been debating one issue in particular in the deliberations on the revisions to these laws, appears to have begun using this as an effective strategy for the political parties in the DPR to push through other amendments that would otherwise have become the focus of public attention.

"This strategy has been successfully applied in the deliberations of the law on election organisers and the law on political parties. Many things in the end have been stolen from us. Now, this will be repeated again in the revisions to the law on elections. In the revisions to the law on legislative elections, there are actually more crucial and principal problems that need to be revised", said Salahudin.

Salahudin said that it is more important to deliberate issues related to the electoral list than the issue of the parliamentary threshold.

Killing off rivals

Speaking yesterday at the parliamentary complex in Senayan, Jakarta, the chairperson of the National Awakening Party's (PKB) Central Leadership Board, Marwan Ja’far said that a drastic increase in the parliamentary threshold is no longer aimed at simplifying the party system but rather an effort to kill of the political parties. Increasing the parliamentary threshold to 5 percent will not be healthy for democracy and will only give rise to a political tyranny.

According to Ja’far, this will also not be healthy for the development of the party system in Indonesia because Indonesia practices a multi-party system. In addition to this, the multi-party system is appropriate for a diverse country like Indonesia.

With a parliamentary threshold of 5 percent, even less parties that will be able to get into parliament. There is concern that this will give rise to a new tyranny, where the state is managed by group of people who can act arbitrarily. (SIE/NTA)

[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of this article was "Revisions to the electoral laws – Political parties not fighting for the nation".]

Human rights protection deteriorates further in 2010 - Kontras

Kompas - December 29, 2010

Jakarta – The protection of human rights in Indonesia has further deteriorated over 2010. At an end of year press conference in Jakarta on Tuesday December 28, a team from the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) concluded that the state's respect for, protection of, and fulfillment of human rights in the judicial field has become increasingly minimal.

In an email, Kontras coordinator Haris Azhar outlined the problems related to the lack of protection for human rights in 2010.

One problem that has become of concern is attacks on human rights and democracy activists with the latest being the murder of a journalist in West South-East Maluku on December 17, the weakness of police accountability with 34 cases of violence resulting in the death of eight people, the poor treatment of political prisoners (cases of violence against South Maluku Republic separatist movement activists) and the failure of the state to guarantee freedom of religion and worship (the many cases of violence committed by groups against people of different faiths).

The other big problem has been violence in Papua (11 cases) and the impunity enjoyed by human rights violators because of the House of Representative's (DPR) low political commitment to resolving these cases.

Kontras gave Indonesia's role in campaigning for human rights in ASEAN a positive score. Reform of the Indonesian military (TNI) meanwhile is homework that to this day, has yet to be completed.

"Kontras welcomes the statement by the new TNI commander-in-chief, Agus Suhartono, when undergoing a fit and proper test at the DPR, [when he] admitted there was still a deficit in the TNI's reform agenda. We agree that there are three deficits in the agenda, namely reform of the territorial command structure, completing the transfer of the TNI's business interests and revision of the military justice system", said Azhar.

The Kontras team concluded that after 12 years of political transformation in Indonesia, four amendments to the Constitution and three general elections, Indonesia is still plagued by problems of violence and the failure to punish the perpetrators of this violence.

The regeneration of the leadership in judicial institutions has failed to bring with it any good news in terms of (legal) efforts to protect victims and vulnerable groups in Indonesia.

As outlined above, this sense of insecurity and lack of guarantees has in fact been caused by state institutions and officials. The police are the institution has been most dominant in exhibiting a disposition of violence and discrimination in 2010. (ONG)

[Translated by James Balowski.]

House of Representatives, between Setgab and the high cost of politics

Kompas - December 24, 2010
 
M Hernowo and Anita Yossihara – The Joint Secretariat (Setgab) of political parties supporting the administration of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. This was one of the important political "breakthroughs" in 2010, and the controversy surrounding it has continued to this day.

When revealed to the mass media in early May this year, then Democrat Party faction chairperson Anas Urbaningrum described it as a brilliant political initiative on the part of President Yudhoyono. The Setgab would be a place to discuss and agree on issues and strategic agenda, which would then be implemented by the political party coalition members.

In theory, the Setgab does hold an extraordinary powers, being able implement all strategic agenda that they have agreed on. The group is headed up directly by Yudhoyono and Golkar Party General Chairperson Aburizal Bakrie as the managing chairperson. With a membership comprising six political parties, namely the Democrat Party, the Democrat Party, the Golkar Party, the Justice and Prosperity Party, National Mandate Party, United Development Party (PPP) and the National Awakening Party, the Setgab control 423 out of 560 seats in the House of Representatives (DPR), or 75.5 percent.

A number of Setgab decisions have also become reality in the DPR, such as that taken at a Setgab meeting on September 21. Setgab secretary Syarifuddin Hasan from the Democrat Party announced that the Setgab supported the national police (Polri) chief and armed forces (TNI) chief candidates proposed by President Yudhoyono. On the selection of a new Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) head to replace former chairperson Antasari Azhar, PPP faction secretary Romahurmuziy said the Setgab supports the older of the two candidates.

Both statements became reality. President Yudhoyono's nomination of Admiral Agus Suhartono as the next TNI chief and Police General Timur Pradopo as the next chief of Polri were both automatically accepted by the DPR. Busyro Muqoddas, who was born in 1952, also defeated Bambang Widjojanto (born in 1959) in the selection of the new KPK chairperson.

Before being taken before the DPR, a number of problems were also discussed beforehand in the Setgab. Before the government submitted the Draft Law (RUU) on the Special Status of Yogyakarta to the DPR on December 16, the Setgab had already held a meeting to discuss the matter with Home Affairs Minister Gamawan Fauzi on December 9.

The six political parties that currently make up the Setgab's membership also fill all the positions on the DPR's Honorary Council (BK) in the aftermath of the unresolved conflict on the DPR's oversight body. This is because the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) faction, which should hold the chair of the BK withdrew its two members and has not replaced them. The Greater Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra) and the People's Conscience Party (Hanura) were not allocated positions on the BK.

After the Setgab was established and Sri Mulyani Indrawati resigned from her position as Finance Minister to become a managing director with the World Bank, a full resolution into the Rp6.7 trillion Bank Century bailout case, which created such an uproar in the DPR, also now seems unlikely.

"In the Bank Century case, the DPR killed off its own authority. The DPR failed to respect the decision that it made itself in the case," said Yudi Latif from the Reform Institute. On March 3, the DPR decided that among other things, there was alleged misuse of authority in the Bank Century case.

The end result of all this said Latif, is that 2010 became the year of political collapse. This occurred because it is as if politics as an instrument of joint problem solving lost its way because it is controlled by parties that are dictated to by their members on the Setgab.

In the shadow of Setgab

This collapse of politics in the DPR is becoming increasingly more tangible. The DPR's political actions are being overshadowed by the "interests" that emerge in the Setgab. Many decisions taken by the DPR have already been decided beforehand in the Setgab. Yet the Setgab is not a body regulated under law while the DPR is clearly regulated under the 1945 Constitution.

At the same time, DPR members endeavour to take maximum advantage of their positions to foster material benefits and secure political positions. As well as this being caused by their unclear future political careers, this has also been triggered by the high cost of politics.

Romahurmuziy related how the campaign costs for DPR members in the 2009 elections were between 300 million and 10 million rupiah. The average monthly income of a DPR member meanwhile stands at 70 million rupiah, so over a five year period they received 4.2 billion rupiah.

This situation has given rise to several odd proposals in the DPR over 2010, such as the 15 billion rupiah aspiration fund for each DPR member, the 1.2 trillion rupiah construction of a new DPR building and the disbursement of 1 billion rupiah for each village in the country.

Moreover the Setgab was also used as a bargaining position to push through these "exotic" proposals by DPR members. DPR Deputy Speaker Priyo Budi Santoso from the Golkar Party once stated that the party has begun to consider leaving the Setgab because they felt abandoned over the aspiration fund proposal for each DPR member.

In a situation such as this, it is not strange then that almost all of the DPR's working targets for 2010 failed to be met. In the case of legislation for example, out of the 70 draft laws in the 2010 national legislation program (Prolegnas), only eight were able to be ratified into law.

Ironically, by the end of 2010, no efforts were visible to improve the DPR's performance. The Prolegnas target for 2011 still stands at 70 draft laws. Efforts to limit political costs through clear and detailed regulations do not appear to have been seriously pursued yet. The DPR also appears unwilling to uphold the DPR's internal code of ethics, as can be seen from the failure to resolve the conflict within the DPR's honorary council.

It is not strange therefore that in the end disappointment with the institution and members of the DPR has continued because reform it seems, is still a long way off for the parliament...

[Translated by James Balowski.]

Outsourcing sees permanent jobs in formal sector drop to 35 percent

Kompas - December 24, 2010

Jakarta – The number of permanently employed workers in the formal sector is steadily declining and currently stands at only 35 percent of all formal workers. This has occurred in concert with Law Number 13/2003 on Labour (UU No 13/2003), which allows for the employment of contract labour from other companies, or outsourcing.

In Jakarta on Thursday December 23, the general chairperson of the Confederation of Prosperity Labor Unions (KSBSI), Rekson Silaban, said that out of the 33 million workers in the formal sector, only 35 percent have the status of workers or permanent workers.

Indonesian Employers Association (Apindo) General Chairperson Sofjan Wanandi was shocked by the data. "That means that the number of permanent workers is steadily declining. Prior to UU No 13/2003 coming into effect, the number of permanent workers in the formal sector was 67 percent", said Wanandi.

He explained that this situation has occurred because prevailing legislation allows it. "I once asked an employer, why so much outsourcing? They replied, why not it's allowed under law. This is a gloomy reflection on the end of the year", said Wanandi.

The way to end outsourcing, said Wanandi, is by revising the labour law. The Indonesian Institute of Science (LIPI) is currently putting together a draft revision to the law. This was on the request of three parties, namely employers, the government and workers. "So, if there is a draft circulating at the moment, it's bogus", said Wanandi.

Yesterday, the PT Telkom Indonesia Outsourced Employees Association, through a written statement, asked the state-owned telecommunication company PT Telkom Indonesia to temporarily stop cooperating with PT Intracotama Daya Perdana, in this instance PT Mitra Nusantara Fonindo, as the outsourcing service provider to PT Telkom.

The request was related to the dismissal of 141 employees on March 22 without the obligatory payment of employees' normative rights in accordance with the labour law.

Silaban also revealed that 75-80 of cases related to workers' severance pay in the Industrial Relations Court end in negotiations. "Meaning, workers loose out because they accept lower severance pay that regulated by UU No 13/2003," he said. (idr)

[Translated by James Balowski.]