ELECTION COMMISSION FINALLY ANNOUNCES SEAT

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 JAKARTA 001494 SIPDIS DEPT FOR EAP, EAP/MTS, EAP/MLS, EAP/RSP NSC FOR D.WALTON E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/09/2019 TAGS: PGOV KDEM ID SUBJECT: ELECTION COMMISSION FINALLY ANNOUNCES SEAT ALLOCATIONS AS LAME DUCK PARLIAMENT RUSHES TO PASS BILLS REF: JAKARTA 1451 AND PREVIOUS Classified By: Pol/C Joseph L. Novak, reasons 1.4(b+d). ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: Indonesia's Election Commission has finally announced the results of the April 9 legislative elections for all areas but Papua (where the results of a vote re-run are pending). The results confirm that the President's party will have a plurality in the next Parliament, that the next speaker will be from his party, and that his coalition will be able to control the chamber. Legal tussles, conflicting court decisions and vote re-runs delayed the official announcement. The current Parliament, which finishes its last session on September 30, is set to push through several last-minute bills while punting on the rest. END SUMMARY. ELECTION COMMISSION ANNOUNCEMENT ¶2. (SBU) After nearly five months of waffling back and forth, the Indonesian Election Commission (KPU) announced on September 2 the allocation of 546 of the 560 seats for the 2009 Parliament (DPR). The Elections Supervisory Board is still investigating the fate of fourteen seats, ten to be determined by still un-verified results from a vote re-run in Papua and four pending clarification of candidate qualifications. ¶3. (SBU) The KPU's official September 2 allocation essentially confirmed the right of the Constitutional Court, not the Supreme Court, to decide the fate of election-related cases. The Constitutional Court's earlier ruling reflected in the KPU announcement will shift the projected composition of the Parliament slightly from earlier KPU projections. In one high profile case, Speaker Agung Laksono of the Golkar Party will lose the seat he thought that he had won. As reported reftel, the conflicting and controversial Supreme Court decision which was not implemented ruled in favor of a different method of vote counting. Had the Supreme Court's decision stood, the three biggest parties stood to gain a significant number of seats at the expense of the smaller parties. ¶4. (U) The 2009 DPR members take their seats October 1. Membership of key parliamentary commissions is likely to take shape by early November, after President Yudhoyono's October 20 inauguration. The next DPR Speaker will be from President Yudhoyono's Partai Demokrat, and the four Deputy Speakers from the next four largest parties. ¶5. (U) The final seat allocations reflected in party membership follow: PARTY SEATS (based on Sept. 2 KPU announcement) Demokrat 145 Golkar 103 PDI-P 93 PKS 57 PAN 44 PPP 36 PKB 27 Gerindra 24 Hanura 17 Total: 546 (14 still pending) LAME DUCK PARLIAMENT RUSHES LEGISLATION ¶6. (C) The current DPR is attempting to push through several laws before it leaves office on September 30. A controversial Anti-Corruption Court bill may still pass. It is unclear whether it will allow ad hoc professional judges or career judges to head up these courts (most observers would like most of the judges to be ad hoc professionals). A JAKARTA 00001494 002 OF 002 state secrecy bill, which some NGOs argue could infringe on civil liberties, could also pass, along with a film bill that filmmakers and civil society worry could stifle free speech. The film bill would require domestic and foreign film makers to submit their scripts for government approval and require theaters to screen mostly Indonesian films. A bill requiring halal (Muslim regulatory) labeling on all food products could also contribute to the trend of increased government oversight. ¶7. (C) There are also other bills which may or not pass. A long-awaited Environmental Protection law deals with Indonesia's protection of its natural assets. It grants greater powers to authorities to arrest people suspected of damaging the environment. An Anti-Terrorism bill which could increase the period of detention without trial for suspects is also under review, but probably will not be passed until the next parliament. PRESIDENT IN GOOD POSITION IN PARLIAMENT ¶8. (C) President Yudhoyono will be in good position in the next Parliament. His party is the biggest and will select the speaker; in the meantime, his coalition will control the chamber and it may be getting bigger thanks to ongoing talks with other parties (see reftel). ¶9. (C) The current Parliament will leave a mixed record. Civil society and political pundits alike have criticized it for its slow pace of legislative review. With an incoming Parliament which will be over sixty percent newcomers, some are holding out the hope that the next parliament will take a fresh look at legislation with an eye to strengthening reform efforts. HUME