SBY hints at support for direct elections

JAKARTA. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has hinted that he could support the proposal to maintain direct elections to choose regional heads.

Yudhoyono said in his opening remarks at a Cabinet meeting on Sunday that the best solution to the raging debate on whether to end direct local elections would be found by referring to the spirit of the reform movement.

Yudhoyono, whose Democratic Party is part of the Red-and-White Coalition led by the Gerindra Party, which has called for a revival of indirect elections, said he was currently working to find a solution to end the controversy.

“Many things have happened in the past 10 years including the implementation of a direct-election mechanism. Therefore, when the nation asks what the best system is, we should go back to the core idea that it must be in line with the spirit of democracy,” Yudhoyono said at the State Palace on Sunday before holding a closed-door meeting with members of his Cabinet.

Yudhoyono, however, also said that he was aware of negative effects of the direct-election system.

“We also should look at the negative effects [from the current local election system]. All aspects must be considered in looking for the solution for our future system and law [on local elections]. I hope that in the near future we will achieve a solution that will give birth to a solid system,” Yudhoyono said.

The President said that he had received briefings from Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Djoko Suyanto and Home Minister Gamawan Fauzi on the latest situation regarding the proposal to scrap the direct-election system.

The Red-and-White Coalition controls a majority of seats at the House of Representatives, which is slated to decide on the fate of direct elections in a plenary session on Sept. 25. If the plenary session decides to hold a vote, the coalition of president-elect Joko “Jokowi” Widodo will likely face a defeat.

The Red-and-White Coalition controls 420 of the 560 seats at the House, 150 of which come from Yudhoyono’s Democratic Party. Jokowi’s Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and its coalition members hold a total of only 140 seats.

Meanwhile, grassroots groups cropped up over the weekend across the country in opposition of the plan to end the direct-election system.

On Sunday, thousands of people calling themselves “Direct Election Defenders” staged peaceful protests in the major cities of Jakarta, Bandung, Banda Aceh, Makassar and Semarang.

The protesters denounced the plan, saying that it constituted a threat to the country’s democracy.

In Jakarta, the group, which staged a protest at the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle, called on Yudhoyono to withdraw his administration’s proposal to review local election laws at the House.

The protesters said that Yudho-yono, who in 2004 became the first President to be elected through a direct election, had enjoyed the fruits of democracy through direct elections, which enabled him to stay in power for a decade. (Haeril Halim and Ina Parlina)