Politics in Indonesia State Organs Law Making Process The People's Consultative Assembly The Supreme Advisory Council Special Session of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) The Supreme Court The President as Chief Executive The State Audit Board The Reform Development Cabinet The Government Apparatus High Officials with the Status of a State Minister Local Government The House of Representatives Administrative Division Regions The System of Deliberation and Voting STATE ORGANS According to the 1945 Constitution there are six organs of the state: 1. The People's Consultative Assembly (Majelis Permusyawaratan Rakyat). 2. The Presidency. 3. The House of Representatives (Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat). 4. The Supreme Advisory Council (Dewan Pertimbangan Agung). 5. The State Audit Board (Badan Pemeriksa Keuangan). 6. The Supreme Court (Mahkamah Agung). Back to Top THE PEOPLE'S CONSULTATIVE ASSEMBLY Article 1 of the 1945 Constitution states that Indonesia is a republic with sovereignty vested in the people to be fully exercised by an elected People's Consultative Assembly, which is the highest political institution in the state. Since the Assembly holds the supreme power in the state, the people voice their political and social aspirations through this body. The major tasks of the Assembly are to sanction the Constitution, decide the Guidelines of State Policy, and elect the President and Vice-President for a term of office of five years. In relation to the Assembly, the President is its Mandatary and, as such, is accountable to the Assembly for the conduct of government. In the exercise of his duties, the President is assisted by the Vice-President. The total membership of the People's Consultative Assembly is twice the membership of the House of Representatives*). All members of the House are concurrently members of the Assembly. The second half of the Assembly's membership consists of members from political organizations, the various factions of the Armed Forces faction, and from Golkar. It also includes regional delegates and representatives from professional groups. When Act No. 5 of 1975 was in force (up to the general elections of 1982), the membership of the House was 460 and that of the Assembly 920. When the act was amended by Act No. 2 of 1985, the membership of the House grew to 500, and the membership of the Assembly to 1,000. Back to Top According to this later Act, the composition of the Consultative Assembly's membership is as follows: 1. The 500 members of the House of Representatives. 2. In addition to the above members of the House, political organizations contending in the general election, namely Partai Persatuan Pembangunan, PDI and Golkar, as well as the Armed Forces faction in the House, are allowed additional membership that is proportionate to their respective membership in the House. As result of the 1997 General Elections, the above additional membership was 251. 3. Delegates from the First Level Regions or Provinces, shall number not less than four persons for a province with a population of less than 1 million, and not more than eight persons for a province with a population of 15 million people, making for a total of 149 delegates. These regional delegates are elected by their respective regional legislative assemblies. 4. Representatives of professional groups number 100 persons. These representatives are appointed by the President on the recommendations of their respective organizations or at the President's discretion. Based on Decree No. VII/MPR/1998, the Chairman of the People's Consultative Assembly will be separate from Chairman of the House of Representatives. He is assisted by five Vice-Chairmen. The election of the Assembly's chairman is by consensus among members. Where this is impossible, voting may be resorted to as provided for by the 1945 Constitution. The Assembly is composed of five factions: 1. The Armed Forces. 2. The Functional Group (Golkar). 3. The United Development Party (PPP). 4. The Indonesian Democracy Party (PDI). 5. The Regional delegates. The Assembly meets not less than once every five years in a General Session and may convene Special Sessions whenever the need arises. * On the composition of the House's membership, see under the heading: The House of Representatives. Back to Top Special Session of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) One of the political agendas of Reform Cabinet is to hold a special session of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) in Jakarta on November 10-13, 1998. The session adopted the following 12 decrees: 1. Decree No. VII/MPR/1998 on amendment of the Assembly's internal rules stipulates that following the May-June 1999, general elections, the Assembly will elect its own leaders who will be separate from those of the House of Representatives. In the Past, Assembly leaders automatically held top posts in the House. The Assembly leadership will consist of a speaker and a maximum of five deputies nominated by political parties with the largest number of seats. 2. Decree No. VIII/MPR/ 1998 revokes the 1983 Assembly Decree on Referendum enables the amendment of the 1945 Constitution in the future. In the 1983 decree, followed by the 1985 referendum law, a referendum must be held before the Assembly can review the Constitution. 3. Decree No. IX/MPR/1998 revokes the 1998 decree on the Guidelines of the State Policy (GBHN). It was replaced by a scaled down document to cover the period up to the assembly's next general session scheduled in mid 1999. 4. Decree No. X/MPR/1998 on the principles of development reform to safeguard and normalize the life of the nation stipulates the objectives of development reform in the economic, political, legal, social and cultural fields. 5. The decree stipulates that the current economic crisis must be resolved and supported by reform measures. The management of the economic crisis includes a number of undetailed targets such as stabilizing the rupiah's exchange rate at reasonable level, managing the interest rates and inflation, bank restructuring, food security and solving the private sector debt problem. The political reform agenda covers the promulgation of new political laws to foster democratization and facilitate a fair, direct and free general election by secret ballot in mid 1999. It also includes provisions to check government power, introduce good governance and adjust the military's dual function in accordance with its new paradigm. The legal reform agenda deals with division of power between the judicative and executive branches of government and contains clauses designed to ensure supremacy of the law and protect basic human rights. The most notable points on the agenda for socio-cultural reform are the social safety net programs covering education, employment and health, the preparation of legal instruments, infrastructure and programs of action to foster ethics in business, professions and public administration. 6. Decree No. XI/MPR/1998 on good governance, free from corruption, collusion and nepotism instructs the government to investigate and deal firmly with former and incumbent government officials, their families, and cronies as well as business people suspected of corruption, collusion and nepotism. 7. The decree stipulates that officials shall publicly disclose their wealth before and after their appointment and have them audited by an institution set up by the head of state. The institution will be staffed by representatives of the government and the people. The decree also requires an amendment of the anti-corruption law to combat graft. 8. Decree No. XII/MPR/1998 revokes the 1998 decree granting special powers in March to the then President Soeharto to declare a state of emergency and to do anything necessary to maintain security and stability in the country. 9. Decree No. XIII limits the term of office for the president and vice president to a maximum of two five-year terms. 10. Decree No. XIV/MPR/1998 states that a general election will be held by next May or June at the latest and that the election will be organized by an independent election committee whose members will comprise representatives of political parties, non-governmental organization and the government. 11. Decree No. XV/MPR/1998 on the administration of regional autonomy, management, distribution and harnessing of natural resources fairly by maintaining a fiscal balance between the provincial administration and the central government in the unitary state of the republic of Indonesia to improve the welfare of local people and the nation as a whole. 12. The fiscal balance between the central and provincial government is to be set with respect to the potential, size and population of each province and local people's income levels. 13. Decree No. XVI/MPR/1998 on political economy in an economic democracy stipulates that : * National economic development is designed to create a broad base of small and medium-scale enterprises (SME) and to foster mutually-beneficial relations between cooperatives, SMEs, large companies and state enterprises. * The implementation of economic democracy shall seek to avoid the concentration of economic assets and forces in the hands of a small number of people and companies. * Cooperatives and medium-scale enterprises, as the main pillars of national economic development, shall be given as many opportunities, incentives and assistance as possible, without ignoring the role of big business and state enterprises. * National land use shall be organized in a just manner and the concentration of land use rights and land ownership in the hands of a few individuals or companies shall be prevented to enhance the strength of cooperatives, SMEs and the people at large. * Banks and financial institutions shall give top priority to cooperatives and SMEs while continuing to work on the principle of sound business management. * Bank Indonesia as the central bank shall be independent and free of interference from the government and all other parties and shall be accountable for its conduct. * Foreign borrowing by the government needs the approval of the House of Representatives within the annual state budget and foreign debts shall strengthen, and not burden, the national economy. * The private sector shall be fully responsible for its foreign borrowing and shall be closely monitored by the government in a transparent manner. * Economic democracy for workers shall be achieved through labor participation and freedom of association in line with the law and ownership share in the company employing them. 14. Decree No. XVII/MPR/1998 on human rights requires all state institutions to enforce and respect them and that the president and the House of Representative (DPR) ratify all United Nations conventions on human rights. 15. A law must be issued to give the National Commission on Human Rights the legal authority to monitor and report on the implementation of human rights conventions. The current Commission was established by presidential decree in January 1994. 16. Decree No. XVIII/MPR/1998 revokes the 1978 Assembly decree on the Propagation and Implementation of Pancasila (P4). This decree rules that the government must stop the compulsory P4 propagation program, and added a chapter to the original draft decree on the right to information. Back to Top The President as Chief Executive In the government system of Indonesia, the President is both head of state and chief executive. He holds office for a term of five years and is eligible for re-election. Since the President is also the Mandatary of the People's Consultative Assembly, he must execute his duties in compliance with the Guidelines of State Policy as decreed by the Assembly. Back to Top The Reform Development Cabinet After Soeharto resigned the new President, B.J. Habibie, announced his cabinet and swore them in on May 23, 1998. B.J. Habibie named his cabinet the Development Reform Cabinet. The Development Reform Cabinet is composed as follows: 1. Minister of Home Affairs: Lt. Gen. Syarwan Hamid 2. Minister of Foreign Affairs: Ali Alatas, SH. 3. Minister of Defense and Security: Gen. Wiranto 4. Minister of Justice: Muladi 5. Minister of Information: Lt. Gen. Yunus Yosfiah 6. Minister of Finance: Bambang Subianto 7. Minister of Trade and Industry: Rahardi Ramelan 8. Minister of Agriculture: Soleh Solahuddin 9. Minister of Forestry: Muslimin Nasution 10. Minister of Mining and Energy: Kuntoro Mangkusubroto 11. Minister of Public Works: Rachmadi B. Sumadhijo 12. Minister of Communications: Giri Suseno Hadihardjono 13. Minister of Cooperatives, Small and Medium Enterprises: Adi Sasono 14. Minister of Manpower: Fahmi Idris 15. Minister of Transmigration Resettlemet of Forest Squatters: AM Hendropriyono 16. Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture: Marzuki Usman 17. Minister of Education and Culture: Juwono Sudarsono 18. Minister of Health: Farid Anfasa Moeloek 19. Minister of Religious Affairs: Malik Fajar 20. Minister of Social Affairs: Yustika S. Baharsyah Departments 1-5 above comprise the Political and Security field, 6-17 comprise the Economic, Financial and Industrial field and 18-21 make up the field of People's Welfare. Back to Top Coordinating Ministers 21. Minister Co-ordinator for Political and Security Affairs: Feisal Tanjung 22. Minister Co-ordinator for Economic, Financial, and Industrial Affairs: Ginandjar Kartasasmita 23. Minister Co-ordinator for People's Welfare/Poverty Eradication: Haryono Suyono 24. Minister Co-ordinator for Development Supervision/State Administrative Reform: Hartarto Sastrosoenarto State Ministers 25. Minister/State Secretary: Akbar Tanjung 26. Minister of State for National Development Planning concurrently Chairman of the National Development Planning Board: Boediono 27. Minister of State for Research and Technology concurrently Chairman of the Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology: Zuhal 28. Minister of State for Population Affairs concurrently Chairman of National Family Planning Coordinating Board: Ida Bagus Oka 29. Minister of State for People's Housing and Settlement: Theo L. Sambuaga 30. Minister of State for Youth Affairs and Sports: R. Agung Laksono 31. Minister of State for Empowerment of State Enterprises: Tanri Abeng 32. Minister of State for the Role of Women: Tuti Alawiyah 33. Minister of State for Food and Horticulture: A.M. Saefuddin 34. Minister of State for Mobilization of Investment Funds/Chair-man of the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM): Hamzah Haz 35. Minister of State for Agrarian Affairs/Chairman of the National Agrarian Board: Hasan Basri Durin 36. Minister of State for Environment concurrently Chairman of Environmental Impact Management Board: Panangian Siregar Back to Top High Officials with the Status of a State Minister 1. Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces: Gen. Wiranto 2. Attorney General: A.M. Ghalib 3. Governor of Bank Indonesia (Central Bank): Syahril Sabirin The structure and organization of governmental departments are uniform, as provided for in Presidential Decision No. 44 of 1974. This requires that a government department shall consist of four components, namely: 1. The leadership, which is in the hands of the minister 2. The administrative services headed by a secretary-general 3. The operational services, each headed by a director-general 4. The institutional control, to be exercised by an inspector-general. As time has passed, the various government departments have expanded in size and responsibilities to accommodate the rising demands in public administration. Hence, a fifth component has been added, namely, a research and development division whose head has the same rank as the other executives. All these executives are appointed and dismissed by the President on the recommendation of the minister. In the exercise of their duties, however, they are answerable to the minister. They are guided by the principles of coordination, integration and synchronization within their own department as well as in relation to other departments and institutions. The secretariat-general is divided into bureaus with a maximum number of five. Each directorate-general is divided into directorates numbering no more than five, and the inspectorate-general is divided into inspectorates, also numbering five at most. The research and development division may have a number of centers, each with a specific task in research and development to meet the growing requirements of the department. Back to Top The House of Representatives The total membership of the House of Representatives is 500. It is composed of: 1. 425 members representing the political organizations that take part in the general election, i.e., Partai Persatuan, Golkar and PDI; 2. 75 members appointed from the Armed Forces. To determine the number of the elected members in the House, the following procedure applies. Each elected member represents at least 400,000 citizens. Hence, if the population is estimated at 197.013.619 people, the total number of elected members is 425. (The General Elections Institute). During general elections the provinces form constituencies and are entitled to representation by elected members, the number being derived from the division of the provincial population by 400,000. Provinces with very small populations are represented by a number of elected members not less than the number of districts in the province and each district shall have not less than one representative.. The reason for the appointment of 75 members from the Armed Forces is that they are not only an instrument of defense and security, they also constitute a socio-political force. However, servicemen cannot take part in general elections. To ensure that they are not denied their political rights as citizens, their representatives in the House are appointed on the recommendation of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces. The House consists of four factions, representing Golkar, the Armed Forces, the United Development Party (PPP) and the Indonesian Democracy Party (PDI). Back to Top The System of Deliberation and Voting Deliberations are held in the House to reach a consensus (mufakat) on any question. In the event a consensus is not achieved, the matter is referred to the Steering Committee. Should this Committee arrive at a consensus, all members will be duly informed. In case of failure, the matter is submitted to the plenary session of the House, which must then decide whether the matter is to be put to a vote, postponed or dropped altogether. Voting requires the presence of all factions and a quorum of two-thirds of the total membership of the house. Resolutions or decisions are adopted by majority votes. Voting on nominations and appointments is done by secret ballot; on any other matters, by a show of hands. If a vote cannot be accomplished because a two-third's quorum cannot be reached or because all factions are not present, the matter is returned to the Steering Committee. The annual session of the House starts on August 16 and ends on August 15 of the following year. Each session is divided into meetings with intervals for recesses. At the opening of each annual session of the House, the President delivers his address of state. This is always on August 16, the day before Indonesia's independence day commemoration. In the address the President reviews the developments of the past year and outlines the prospects for the coming year. Back to Top Law Making Process The 1945 Constitution states that the House of Representatives is the body of the State. The Government submits bills to the House for consideration and approval, but members of the House can initiate their own bills. Such bills must be accompanied by an explanatory memorandum, signed by at least 30 members, and submitted to the Speaker of the House. During the discussion of the proposed bill, the initiating members may make alterations or withdraw it. If the House passes the bill, it will become law when it has obtained the signature of the President. By authority of the President, the Minister/State Secretary will publish the Act in the State Gazette of the Republic of Indonesia and henceforth the Act comes into force. Back to Top The Supreme Advisory Council Following Article 16 of the 1945 Constitution and Act No. 3 of 1967 as amended by Act No. 4 of 1978, the functions of the Supreme Advisory Council are to answer any questions that the President may ask in relation to the affairs of the State, including questions on political, economic, socio-cultural and military affairs. Conversely, the Council may submit recommendations or express its views on any matter of national importance. Members of the Council are nominated by the House and appointed by the President for a term of five years. Certain set conditions must be met to qualify for appointments. The Council is headed by a Chairman and has four Vice-Chairmen and 45 members. The permanent committees of the Council are: 1. The political committee. 2. The economic, financial and industrial committee. 3. The committee on people's welfare. 4. The committee on defense and security. Back to Top The Supreme Court The Supreme Court is the judicial arm of the State and exists beside the legislative and the executive branches. It enjoys an independent status in the socio-political fabric. It was not until 1968 that the restructuring of the Supreme Court was completed to meet the conditions set out in the 1945 Constitution, i.e., to be free from government intervention in the exercise of justice. In 1970 a law was enacted that laid down the basic principle of Indonesia's judicial powers. Back to Top The State Audit Board The functions of the State Audit Board are outlined in Article 23 of the 1945 Constitution. Its main function is to conduct official examinations of government financial accounts. The findings of the Board are submitted to the House of Representatives, which approves the government budget. In his annual state address on August 16, the President reports to the House on the Government's performance during the past fiscal year. Detailed accounts of government revenues and expenditures and a full report on the progress achieved in development and administration, are recounted in the supplement to the presidential speech. Back to Top The Government Apparatus A major concern of the Government has been the creation of an efficient, clean and respectable administration on national and regional level. This is understandable considering that the progress achieved in national development has created considerable expansion in government activities and responsibilities, and pressing public demands for continuous improvements and streamlining of routine and more often of development administration. Government regulations that prove to be unnecessary red tape have been abolished by deregulation and debureaucratization. However, administrative reform that will achieve the ideal results is a long and painstaking effort. Thus, preventive and repressive actions have been and will continue to be taken until abuse of authority and malpractice on the part of the state apparatus are reduced to a minimum or, hopefully, eliminated. Back to Top Local Government The structure and organization of local governments follow the pattern of the national government. On the national level, the President is the Chief Executive and works with a cabinet of ministers. Next to the national executive is the House of Representatives, with whom the government enacts laws and determines the national budget. Similarly, the Governor is the Chief Executive in the province and works with a staff of regional officials. Side by side is the provincial legislative, with whom the regional government concurs on regional legislation and decisions on the budget. On the district (Kabupaten) and municipal (Kotamadya) levels, the Chief Executives are respectively, the Bupati (district head) and Walikota kodya (mayor). Again, the Bupati/Walikota kodya concurs with the local legislative on matters relating to local government regulation and the budget. Both provincial and district municipality governments are granted autonomy. Where the President is the Head of State, the Governor is the Head of the Province and concurrently represents the Central Government in his region. Similarly, the Bupati/Walikota kodya is the Head of the Kabupaten/kotamadya and concurrently represents the Governor in his district/municipality. The procedure of appointing a governor is as follows: The provincial legislature elects two or three candidates. The election result is reported to the national government, via the Minister of Home Affairs. The winning candidate is then appointed Governor by the President on the recommendation of the Minister. In a similar way, the Kabupaten/kotamadya legislature elects two or three candidates to be proposed to the Minister of Home Affairs. One of these then is appointed Bupati/Walikota kodya, by the Minister on the recommendation of the Governor. Below the district municipal level the administrative units are not autonomous. These are the Kecamatan, or Sub-District Administrations and the Kelurahan, or the Village Administrations. The Kecamatan is an administrative sub-division of the Kabupaten or Kotamadya. It is headed by a Camat. The Kecamatan office is in charge of the administration of the sub-district, social welfare and economic affairs. Some national government departments have branches in the Kecamatan office. Back to Top The system of village administration is not much different from that of the Kecamatan. The Lurah, who heads the kelurahan, is assisted by a secretary and section heads. Unlike the Kecamatan, however, national government departments do not have branch offices in a Kelurahan. Both the Camat and the Lurah are civil servants appointed on merit from the ranks of local government officials. In the Desa, or village, the administrative system is somewhat different. The village head, is elected by the village's adult population. The elected candidate is then appointed by the Bupati on behalf of the governor. In the office of the village head there is a secretary and several section heads. A unique feature of village life is the Village Council of Elders, which is composed of 9 to 15 prominent village leaders. The Council makes decisions in concurrence with the village head. In fact, this grass-roots level administration of the village, with its indigenous system of democracy and mutual help, was the inspiration of the founding fathers of the Republic when they decided on the government as laid down in Pancasila and the 1945 Constitution. The "Lembaga Ketahanan Masyarakat Desa" is a village organization whose task is to promote socio-economic conditions so that the village becomes a viable rural community. The organization is headed by the Village Head or Lurah who is assisted by a secretary. Other members of the organization are drawn from the village community. Community living is fostered by two neighborhood organizations. "The Rukun Tetangga" takes care of social and administrative matters of a neighborhood, such as the registration of families, security, garbage collection, etc. "The Rukun Warga" is the coordinating organization of a number of Rukun Tetangga. Both these organizations are voluntary and non-formal and mainly designed to assist in the work of Lurah/village head. Regional Finance 1. The budget for regional administration and development is composed of the following: 2. Budget allocation from the Central Government to Local Governments. 3. Central Government grants to Local Governments. 4. Taxes collected by Local Governments with the approval of the Central Government. 5. Corporate profits of Local Government enterprises. e. Credits secured by Local Governments. Back to Top Administrative Division Regions The Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia is divided into 27 provinces which are sub-divided into 243 districts, 55 municipalities, 16 administrative municipalities, 35 administrative cities, and 3,841 sub-districts or kecamatans. Three of the provinces are special territories, namely the Capital City of Jakarta, the Special Territory of Yogyakarta, and the Special Territory of Aceh. Villages are classified into desas or rural villages and kelurahans or urban villages. The head of a desa, is elected by the village community, whereas the head of a kelurahan which is called lurah, is a civil servant appointed by a camat or head of a sub-district on behalf of the governor. http://www.asianinfo.org/asianinfo/indonesia/pro-politics.htm