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Indonesia jumps last democratic
hurdle
By Bill Guerin
JAKARTA - Colonized by the Dutch, occupied
by the Japanese and led by authoritarian leaders
for several decades, Indonesia has entered the
final phase of its transition into the world's
third-largest democracy in a series of direct
local elections or pilkada that will see
authority finally devolved from the central
government in Jakarta.
While some volatile
areas such as Aceh and Papua have postponed the
devolution of power, leaders in a third of the
country's 33 provinces and half of its 400
regencies or districts are scheduled to be elected
in 226 local elections this year. Some 186 local
administrations, including seven provinces, will
hold elections this month, with another 40 regions
scheduled to hold polls between July and December,
and the remainder some time, as yet to be
determined, during 2006.
The landmark
elections started last week in East Kalimantan,
where voters went to the polls in the country's
first direct local leadership election to choose
the regent (bupati) and deputy regent of
one of the country's richest regencies, Kutai
Kartanegara. Previously regents were appointed by
local councils - a process known to be open to
corruption and vote buying.
About 376,000
voters were eligible to vote in Kutai Kartanegara.
With a 73% turnout, incumbent regent Syaukani and
his running mate, Samsuri Aspar, won 61% of the
vote. Syaukani, who heads the nationwide
association of bupatis, has used the
regency's wealth for the benefit of the local
community - improving the infrastructure,
delivering free education and providing small
interest-free loans to help locals start small
businesses.
In light of the elections,
Ishack Iskandar, head of the Local General
Elections Commission (KPUD) in the province, said,
"We now can act without being hassled any more by
the central government."
Local leaders
seized the momentum after Suharto's downfall in
1998 and pressed for more authority and a share of
income from natural resources that had previously
gone to Jakarta. The central government then drew
up the 1999 Regional Autonomy Law that transferred
a greater share of revenue to local governments
and allowed them to make many of their own laws
and control their budgets. The law put local
elections under the jurisdiction of local
governments and the Ministry of Home Affairs.
Problem issues
One concern is
that several issues not present in the 2004
general elections could adversely affect the long,
drawn-out series of local elections. Current local
election laws, for instance, could encourage fraud
and election violations.
International
observers commented on the efficiency and
integrity of the country's first-ever direct
presidential poll in 2004 and attributed this to
the determination of the government and the people
to hold fair and peaceful elections.
Unfortunately, by April this year much of the
confidence and optimism gained from those
elections, by the government and voters alike, had
evaporated with the exposure of a high-profile
corruption case involving allegations of kickbacks
from companies that won contracts to provide
materials for the elections, despite the fact that
everything had gone through a tender system.
The arrest of General Elections Commission
(KPU) member Mulyana W Kusamah by the Corruption
Eradication Commission (KPK) set off claims of
widespread, systemic corruption and fiscal abuse
from top to bottom within the echelons of the KPU.
Mulyana was allegedly caught trying to bribe the
Supreme Audit Agency into turning a blind eye on
graft. KPU chairman Nazaruddin Syamsuddin was
later declared a suspect and three other senior
KPU members were arrested over the scandal.
Notwithstanding the shock and shame
generated by this graft scandal, the 2004
elections benefited greatly from strategic
planning and implementation by the KPU and the
government, assisted by donor countries,
non-governmental organizations, international
agencies such as the United Nations and the
European Union, as well as independent monitoring
agencies. For local elections, however, the key
institutions are only the KPUD and the Ministry of
Home Affairs.
The KPUD is in charge of the
overall strategic planning of election activities
and takes up the role of the KPU. The Ministry of
Home Affairs provides only technical guidance and
logistical support for the KPUD. Pre-election
activities, such as information dissemination and
voter registration, candidate registration and
verification, the printing and distribution of
ballots, organizing of campaign schedules, and
monitoring of the elections for violations is all
the responsibility of the KPUD, which is
accountable to the local legislative body (DPRD).
The Ministry of Home Affairs has removed
the requirement for the printing of ballots
through a tender system. This increases the
opportunity for corrupt practices in the printing
of ballots and ballot boxes, just as happened in
the general elections.
A local election
supervisory commission (PANWASDA) was established
by the DPRD and is accountable to the KPUD. The
commission will receive and investigate complaints
of election violations or fraud, seek to resolve
disputes, and pass on credible allegations of
criminal violations of the law to the police. As
PANWASDA members are appointed by the DPRD,
reported violations and cases of fraud could be
suppressed or manipulated in the interests of
particular political parties.
The low
electoral threshold could also encourage fraud.
Local election laws presently allow candidates to
be declared winners if they receive at least 25%
of the vote, unlike in the presidential election,
where the candidates needed to win at least 50% of
the vote.
Delayed
devolution
Devolution of power, which is
expected to help dampen separatist tensions, will
be delayed for the resource-rich provinces of Aceh
and Papua, but not for Central Sulawesi, where the
marginalization of Christians in Poso,
particularly the local administration, in which
Muslims control the strategic posts, has given
rise to increasing Christian resentment.
The Ministry of Home Affairs has granted
postponements for areas that have suffered as a
result of the tsunami of late last year and recent
earthquakes. Elections in Aceh and Nias have been
postponed until the early rehabilitation and
reconstruction phase of the relief operations are
completed, thus allowing election activities such
as voter information and registration to begin.
Aceh was scheduled to have 14 elections, including
one for a new governor to replace Abdullah Puteh,
who has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for
corruption.
The elections have also been
postponed in Papua, where Jakarta is striving to
limit the authority of the Papuan People's
Assembly (Majelis Rakyat Papua, or MRP). The
Special Autonomy Law for Papua No 21/2001
stipulates that the Papua Legislative Council
(DPRD) needs the approval of the MRP before
inaugurating elected officials. However, Article
139 of that law states that consideration and
approval from the MRP must be sought only on one
issue: that candidates for election are native
Papuans. The government is proposing that the DPRD
go ahead and inaugurate elected officials,
particularly the governor, should the MRP fail to
give its consideration and approval within seven
days.
In Poso, where blasts blamed on
Islamic militants killed 22 people in a local
market recently, the five pairs of candidates
lining up for the job of regent and deputy regent
are a Muslim and a Christian, in each case.
Campaigning there will begin within two weeks and
the polls will be held on June 30.
Problem provinces
The government
has identified 23 regions that face obstacles in
holding local elections, ranging from disputed
candidacies to internal rifts in political
parties. The duplication of several party
executive boards has led rival camps to nominate
their own candidates. Split tickets based on
agreements by the central boards of political
parties in the capital will perpetuate Jakarta's
political influence in many local polls.
Challenges to the screening of candidates
approved by the KPUD has already sparked violence
in several local jurisdictions, including
Banyuwangi (East Java); Rejang Lebong (West Java);
South Tapanuli, Asahan and Indragiri Hulu (South
Sumatra); Solok (West Sumatra); West Halmahera
(North Maluku); Eastern Seram (Maluku); and Gowa
(South Sulawesi). Disputes over the eligibility of
candidates have taken place in Tanah Toraja (South
Sulawesi), Sula (North Maluku), Bima (West Nusa
Tenggara) and Kebumen (Central Java).
Independent candidates have been barred
from the polls after a last-minute ruling by the
Constitutional Court on June 2 that unanimously
agreed that Law No 32/2004 on regional
administrations was consistent with the
constitution in requiring candidates to win
support from parties in order to run for top
executive posts in regencies, municipalities and
provinces. The court judges said that allowing
independent candidates to contest regional
elections would discourage efforts to help
political parties mature.
In addition, the
exercise in democracy may be grossly underfunded.
The Minister of Home Affairs, Mohammad Ma'ruf, has
estimated that funding for local elections
requires Rp1.25 trillion (US$130.6 million). The
regional budget will bear 50% of the cost, while
the other half will come from the state budget.
The Ministry of Finance has so far
approved from the state budget an allocation of
only Rp344.3 billion for regions that will hold
local elections. Similarly, from the Rp142 billion
in operational funds requested by the Ministry of
Home Affairs, the Ministry of Finance has provided
only about Rp20 billion, leaving many provinces,
regents and cities financially unprepared for the
elections.
Despite a lack of funding for
their organizations and their activities, several
independent election monitoring organizations,
such as the Indonesian People's Network for Voter
Education, the Indonesian Committee for
Independent Monitoring and the Independent
Election Monitoring Network, that actively
monitored the 2004 general elections, have pledged
to monitor the local elections to the end.
Elections give political legitimacy to the
people's representatives. Whether or not the
officials and councilors voted in this year will
be truly accountable to those who elect them is
another question, but the legitimacy of the local
elections will depend largely on how the KPUD
carries out its duties.
Any repeat of the
KPU members' crimes by members of the KPUD, or
widespread abuse of funds intended for the
democratic process, as seen in the general
elections, will not only shatter Indonesians'
confidence in their dreams of a legitimate
democracy but also further damage the image of the
country.
Bill Guerin, a Jakarta
correspondent for Asia Times Online since 2000,
has worked in Indonesia for 19 years in journalism
and editorial positions. He has been published by
the BBC on East Timor and specializes in
business/economic and political analysis in
Indonesia.
(Copyright 2005 Asia Times
Online Ltd. All rights reserved. Please contact us
for information on sales, syndication and republishing.) |
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