Next threath : Scrapping direct
presidential polls
Prabowo’s
coalition plans to transfer power to elect president to MPR. If this happens ,
it would be a return to the New Order era.
Indonesia’s
hard-won democracy, which emerged from the bloody reform movement of 1998 that
ended Soeharto’s three decades of dictatorship, has never faced a critical
challenge — until today.
After snatching the people’s right to elect their local leaders through a
controversial Regional Elections Law passed on Friday, the coalition of losing
presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto is suspected of planning an even more
sinister plot.
This time around, the Red-and-White Coalition is seeking to scrap direct presidential
elections and transfer the people’s political right to elect their national
leader to the People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR).
Presidential elections carried out by political and group representatives in
the MPR will resemble those practiced during Soeharto’s New Order era.
The coalition, which will hold the majority of seats in the next composition of
the House of Representatives, will do so by amending the 1945 Constitution.
The plan to strengthen the MPR as well as to amend the Constitution was
officially announced during a House plenary meeting last week.
Puan Maharani, who leads the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P)
faction in the House, confirmed Prabowo’s supporters were ready to mobilize the
plan.
“The demise of direct regional elections may lead to indirect presidential
elections. But we don’t want that to happen, do we?” the daughter of PDI-P
chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri said.
Puan also said that she had heard rumors of a plan to revise the MPR’s internal
regulation, to allow the assembly to impeach president-elect Joko “Jokowi”
Widodo.
A document, believed to be a draft amendment to the MPR regulation, was
circulating over the weekend.
Several lawmakers who requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue
confirmed the validity of the document.
The draft contains revisions to articles 99, 105, 110 and 112, which detail the
necessary procedures to impeach a president upon the recommendation of the
House.
Article 99, for example, stipulates that the MPR can impeach a president based
on a recommendation from the House, if the Constitutional Court rules that the
president has committed a crime such as treason, corruption or other serious misconduct.
A president can be impeached if he or she is deemed “unfit to carry out the
duties of his/her office”.
Articles 105 to 112 elaborate upon the mechanism to appoint the vice president
to assume the presidency following the president’s impeachment.
Lawmakers from the coalition that endorsed the Jokowi-Jusuf Kalla presidential
ticket raised their concerns about such a possibility, as the MPR is currently
revising its internal regulation as mandated by the newly passed Legislative
Institutions Law (MD3).
Such a revision would restore the MPR to its historic position as the
most-powerful state institution, invested with the authority to “review” the
performance of leaders of inferior state institutions, including the office of
the president.
Hayono Isman, a member of the patron council in President Susilo Bambang
Yudhoyono’s Democratic Party, said the possibility of the next president being
elected indirectly via the MPR was growing.
“If the Red-and-White Coalition controls the MPR, it will be easy for them to
amend the 1945 Constitution. The public can be bullied by the MPR,” he said on
Saturday.
Aburizal Bakrie, chairman of the Golkar Party, the biggest member of the
Red-and-White Coalition, acknowledged the plan.
Aburizal even stated that the coalition planned to revise 122 laws.
“We must revise the laws to bring them in line with the plan to amend the
Constitution,” he said.
Ikrar Nusa Bhakti, a political researcher at the National Science Institute,
said reinstating indirect presidential elections was almost certainly Prabowo’s
ultimate goal.
“Prabowo must have realized that it would be difficult for him to win via a
direct election. So, he will forcibly destroy the system and return it to the
New Order style,” he said.
Indonesia has enjoyed direct presidential elections since 2004, when Susilo Bambang
Yudhoyono was elected president in a popular vote.
ACTIVE :
1. The Red-and-White Coalition is
seeking to scrap direct presidential elections
This
sentence is called active voice because The Red and White Coalition as a
subject of a sentence doing action. And as a verb is seeking. This type of a
sentence is present Continuous. Because the pattern of present contnuous is
S+tobe+V1+ing.
2. Prabowo’s coalition plans to transfer
power to elect president to MPR.
This
sentence is called active voice because Prabowo’s coalition as a subject and as
a verb is plans.This type of a sentence is simple present tense, because the
pattern of simple present tense is S+V1+(s/es).
3. A document, believed to be a draft
amendment to the MPR regulation, was circulating over the weekend.
This
sentence is called active voice because a document as a subject and as a verb
is circulating.This type of a sentence is simple past continuous tense, because
the pattern of simple present tense is subject + was, were + verb1 + ing.
4. The draft contains revisions to
articles 99, 105, 110 and 112.
This
sentence is called active voice because the draft as a subject and as a verb is
contains. This type of a sentence is simple present tense, because the pattern
of simple present tense is subject +v1+(e/es).
5. The MPR was growing.
This
sentence is called active voice because the MPR as a subject and as a verb is
growing.This type of a sentence is simple past continuous tense, because the
pattern of simple present tense is subject + was, were + verb1 + ing.
PASSIVE :
1. Prabowo Subianto is suspected of
planning an even more sinister plot.
This
sentence is called passive voice because Prabowo Subianto as a subject , is as
a tobe and suspected as v3. The pattern of passive voice above is S+tobe+v3.
2. The president has committed a crime
such as treason, corruption or other serious misconduct.
This
sentence is called passive voice because The President as a subject , has as a
tobe and commited as v3. The pattern of passive voice above is S+have/has+v3.
3. A president can be impeached.
This
sentence is called passive voice because a president as a subject , can as a modal, be as be and impeached as v3. The
pattern of passive voice is S+modal+be+v3.
4. Indonesia has enjoyed direct
presidential elections since 2004.
This
sentence is called passive voice because Indonesia as a subject , has as a
subject, and enjoyed as v3. The pattern
of passive voice is S+have/has+v3.
5. The public can be bullied by the
MPR,” he said on Saturday.
This
sentence is called passive voice because the public as a subject , can as a modal, be as be and bullied as v3. The
pattern of passive voice is S+modal+be+v3.
NAME : Desi Nuri Novitasari Pertiwi
CLASS : 3SA05
NPM : 11611882