Prabowo's Coalition Proposes Presidential Election to be Revoked
29 September 2014 17:22 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - After eliminating the direct local election, the Merah Putih Coalition comes up with another discourse to return presidential election to the People’s Council (MPR). Secretary General of the National Mandate Party (PAN) Herman Kadir said that presidential election has torn apart the society.
“If direct presidential election only causes a stir in the society, I think it should be revoked,” said Herman.
Herman also notably said that direct election is the "product" of the West. He believed that democracy in Indonesia is bestowed upon the parliament. ”If necessary, presidential election is conducted by MPR,” he said.
Hayono Isman from Democrat Faction said that re-election through MPR is plausible. “If Merah Putih coalition has ruled DPRD and Regional Heads, ruling MPR will likely be possible. Therefore, making amendment is no sweat,” said Hayono.
Moreover, Political expert from Indonesia Institute of Science Ikrar Nusa Bakti confirmed Hayono’s statement, saying that Prabowo’s supporters and Democrat’s men in MPR are around 352, more than half of total seats. “It is plausible that MPR will change presidential election mechanism because Prabowo knows that with direct election, it is impossible for him to get elected,” said Ikrar.
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