Amendment to be sent to Parliament by Jan 18; no opposition expected
By
Salim Osman, Indonesia Correspondent
JAKARTA - INDONESIA plans to amend a voting format for its general election next year, dropping an unpopular law that was introduced earlier this year.
The new rule, dubbed Peraturan Pemerintah Pengganti Undang-Undang (PERPPU), allows voters to mark both the party and the candidate in the voting slips during polling on April 9.
Worries about new voting procedure
INDONESIANS had been punching two holes - one for the candidate, one for the candidate's party - in their ballot papers for 50 years, until a provision was introduced in this year's legislative election law.
The law changed the method of voting from punching holes to marking an 'X' with a pen.
Indonesians had been punching two holes - one for the candidate, one for the candidate's party - in their ballot papers for 50 years, until a provision was introduced in this year's legislative election law.
The law changed the method of voting from punching holes to marking an 'X'. It also allowed only one marking. Ballot papers with two markings were considered invalid.
Lawmakers had pushed for the switch on the grounds that papers with punched holes could be tampered with easily.
But political parties have not been happy with the change. Their worry: Many of their supporters are used to making two markings on their ballot slips and that there is not enough time to inform all 170 million voters to make just one.
With merely months to go before the elections, and concerns that the votes they have earned may be lost on a technicality, the parties have been pressing the government to amend the law.
Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono made the announcement last Saturday, saying that he would soon introduce PERPPU to clear up any confusion among voters.
'Our voters tend to mark the party first and then mark the candidate of their choice. This is against the current law that only allows one marking. We will fix this,' he told reporters after meeting election officials and parliamentary leaders.
As President, Dr Yudhoyono has executive powers to amend the provisions of the law but the draft of the regulation must still be presented to the House of Representatives (DPR) for approval.
He plans to draft the regulation this week and present it to the DPR by Jan 18. He is not expected to face any opposition.
Once the draft of PERPPU is passed by Parliament, voters can mark both the party and the candidate in the ballots. Ballots with only one marking are also valid.
Getting votes is crucial to each party, for it determines not just the number of parliamentary seats it will command, but also if it can nominate its own candidate for the presidential election in July.
Under the presidential election law, only a party with at least 25 per cent of the vote can field a candidate. Those which receive fewer votes can forge a coalition to make up the numbers if they want to take part in the presidential election.
Dr Yudhoyono's decision was cheered by the parties. 'We welcome the move by the President to fix this because many of our supporters tend to mark both the party and the candidate,' said legislator Alvin Lie of the National Mandate Party.
The move to change the rules on ballot marking follows the constitutional court's decision last Tuesday that seats in Parliament will go to the candidates who receive the most votes.
Under the current practice, political parties are allocated a number of MP seats proportional to the percentage of votes they garner at the elections. MPs are then picked by the party.
With the constitutional court ruling, however, parties no longer have the final say. Instead, the seats will go to the candidates who won the most votes in their party.
