Independent Electoral Commission Key for a Successful Transition to Democracy

Press Release:

In Indonesia Independent Electoral Commission Key for a Successful Transition to Democracy

Jakarta, Indonesia 4 December 1998: Indonesian political parties, electoral authorities and observer groups today concluded a two-day workshop in Jakarta with the message that an independent electoral commission was the key to a successful transition to democracy in Indonesia.

"The single most important factor for a successful election is the perceived legitimacy of the process," said Prof. Reg Austin, Director of Programmes at the International IDEA (Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance) an inter-governmental organization based in Stockholm which organized the workshop. "In this sense, a robust independent and respected electoral commission is the most important part of the electoral process."

The IDEA workshop was the first time that representatives from Indonesia's major political parties, parliament and non-governmental organizations heard from electoral commissions from Australia, India, Philippines and Thailand.

"Elections demand a vast degree of organizational efficiency," said Andi Malarengeng of the political reform team in Indonesia's Ministry of Home Affairs, which has produced a draft electoral bill. "It is hard to think of any other activity, apart perhaps from war, which requires so many people to be mobilized at so many places to such an unforgiving timetable. At this stage of the process, we have to be wary of delays creeping into the process. The single most scarce resource for us at the moment is time."

Participants, at the workshop emphasized the importance of the government choosing a coherent electoral system and giving the election administration enough time to prepare material for Indonesia's 150 million voters. "Six months is not a long time to prepare for what are the most important elections in Indonesia's history," said Syamsuddin Haris from the Indonesian Institute of Sciences. "It is imperative that the planning starts now. Each day that passes raises the stakes."

Slamet Effendy Yusef of the ruling Golkar party, a member of the legislative committee examining the new electoral laws, announced at the conference that the parliament was deciding between two variations of proportional representation for next year's election. The choice was between the existing system based upon proportional representation at a provincial level or an alternative system favored by the ruling Golkar party in which members would be elected from a combination of single-member and multi-member electoral districts. "One of these two systems will be chosen by the parliament on the 28 January," he said.

International experts underlined the desirability of Indonesia's legislators reconsidering the unwieldy structure of Indonesia's planned 15-member electoral commission, which will include representatives from political parties, government and civil society. "We only have five members on our commission in Thailand, and no political parties," said Laddawan Tantiviyapitak from the office of the Thai Election Commission. "A 15 member commission made up of political parties and government could be almost unworkable."´

Former Philippine Electoral Commissioner Haydee Yorac said that a key to her country’s successful democratization had been the degree of authority and power vested in the electoral commission. "Our constitution gives the electoral commission enormous powers at election time. The regular branches of government and even the military are deputized to the authority of the election commissioner. We also have fiscal autonomy which makes funds automatically available for election purposes. This means that we have true independence and can act in a fearless way, which all the parties understand and respect."

India's Deputy Election Commissioner, Sayan Chatterjee, said that the Election Commission of India had the power to place the entire Indian civil service under its direct command at each election: "India is the world's largest democracy, with 600 million voters served by 900,000 polling places at election time. To complete such a mammoth task successfully, we need considerable powers. Civil servants and staff from the courts are deputized to work under the control and supervision, including disciplinary control, of the Commission during this time."

Other participants spoke of the need for an independent election monitoring body from civil society. The importance of local election monitoring was emphasized by Dr Mulyana Kusuma, the head of Indonesia's Independent Election Monitoring Committee (KIPP). "Indonesian elections have never been subject to international monitoring in the past," he said. "But at this election, we expect to have large numbers of both international and domestic monitors. It is essential to the perceived legitimacy of the electoral process that this monitoring is carried out. The eyes of the world will be upon us."

Legislative elections are presently scheduled for the 7 June 1999, and the election of a new president was recently brought forward to the 29 August 1999.

For more information Contact: International IDEA Project Co-ordinator, Indraneel Datta (62) 818 92 55 44 in Jakarta, or International IDEA Press Officer, Lee Woodyear in Stockholm.