In support of Indonesia’s 2009 presidential and parliamentary elections IRI helped establish a task force, which examined issues related to political party reform, such as internal democracy, candidate selection, voter accountability, financial disclosure and the inclusion of marginalized voting constituencies. IRI’s program, funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) was recognized at a January 11 forum entitled Social Gathering to Showcase Best Practices of Democracy Initiatives in Indonesia, hosted by the Indonesian National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas).
The forum brought together representatives from the Indonesian government, other foreign embassies, and nongovernmental organizations to sharing best practices in the field of democracy development. During the Bappenas event, Armida Alisjahbana, Minister of National Planning and Development thanked IRI for its support leading up to the 2009 and highlighted the importance of sharing best practices.
IRI’s program in advance of the 2009 elections, focused on political party reform at both the national and provincial levels. The task force was among the highlights of IRI’s programs that contributed to Indonesia’s third successful democratic election.
Comprised of national and provincial legislators, political party leaders, civil society organizations advocating for underrepresented constituencies and representatives from academic and religious institutions, the task force examined issues relating to political party reform, such as internal democracy, candidate selection, voter accountability, financial disclosure and the inclusion of marginalized voting constituencies. The task force compiled recommendations for legislative candidate recruitment, political education and resolution of internal party conflict.
Through the recommendations, legislative lobbying initiatives and public hearings made or initiated by the task force, nine of its 14 proposed amendments to the national political party reform legislation were successfully adopted. Building on these successes, IRI has replicated the task force model in current programming efforts to enhance communication between political parties, legislative factions and constituents.
The January 11 event was attended by individuals representing Bappenas, the Indonesian Election Commission, the Australian Agency for International Development, the Embassy of Japan, USAID, the Canadian International Development Agency, the Royal Norwegian Embassy, the United Nations Development Programme and various local nongovernmental organizations.
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