KPU announces mapping of electoral districts<\/p>\n
Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The General Elections Commission (KPU) has established a total of
\n1,565 electoral districts in more than 400 regencies for the
\nseats in regency and municipality legislative councils.<\/p>\n
But no further details on the boundaries of the electoral
\ndistricts were provided.<\/p>\n
The electoral districts in Aceh's regencies and municipalities
\nhave yet to be drawn up to the ongoing registration of eligible
\nvoters in the province. The registration has been hampered by the
\nongoing military offensive.<\/p>\n
KPU member Anas Urbaningrum said here on Thursday that KPU
\nwould officially distribute the electoral maps to its branches in
\nprovinces, regencies and municipalities on Friday.<\/p>\n
"The public is expected to give feedback about the electoral
\ndistricts within two weeks (after the map is made public)," he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Previously, KPU had created 200 electoral districts in 32
\nprovinces for the seats in provincial legislative councils and 69
\nelectoral districts for the 550 seats allocated for the House of
\nRepresentatives.<\/p>\n
Separately, the National Mandate Party (PAN) proposed a new
\nway to form electoral districts so that all seats in the regency
\nand provincial legislative council and the House were distributed
\nfairly.<\/p>\n
In a statement signed by PAN Deputy Chairman A.M. Fatwa and
\ndeputy secretary general A. Hakam Naja, the party proposed that
\nevery electoral district should be allocated between six and ten
\nseats to give a fair chance for all election contestants,
\nincluding the newcomers, to gain seats in the regional
\nlegislatures and provincial legislative councils.<\/p>\n
KPU should also consider the geographical condition of a
\nregion or several regions which were merged to form an electoral
\ndistrict so that legislators could serve their constituents, said
\nthe statement.<\/p>\n
It proposed the large North Sumatra province be divided into
\nfour electoral districts, instead of the current two, while South
\nSulawesi be divided into three electoral districts and not two.<\/p>\n
According to the party, Jakarta could be split into three
\nelectoral districts, instead of two, given the fact that absentee
\nballots from those who are abroad would be allocated for the
\ncapital city.<\/p>\n
Besides, PAN also suggested that the Central Java regencies of
\nBoyolali, Karanganyar, and Sragen and Surakarta municipalities be
\nmerged to form a single electoral district due to their similar
\nculture.<\/p>\n
Anas said the commission would consider PAN's proposal to
\nimprove the quality of the general election scheduled for April
\n5.<\/p>\n
In other related developments, the Transparency International
\nCenter for Innovation and Research (TI-CIR) called on Indonesia
\nto use the incoming legislative and presidential elections as a
\ngood moment to seek a strong national leader which was committed
\nto eradicating rampant corruption.<\/p>\n
Jeremy Pope, a senior staff member at TI-CIR said that ahead
\nof the elections, presidential candidates should make public
\ntheir anticorruption platform if they wanted to be elected.<\/p>\n
"Otherwise, a president will be confused about what to do to
\neradicate the corruption in his\/her first 100 days," he said.<\/p>\n
He cited as an example, that Brazilian President Lula was
\nconfused because he had no program to combat the corruption in
\nthe bureaucracy while presidential candidates in Bangladesh
\nannouncing their anticorruption program during their presidential
\ncampaigns.<\/p>\n
Emmy Hafidz of Indonesian chapter of the Transparency
\nInternational suggested that politicians running for the
\npresident should set a specific timetable to combat corruption in
\nthe judiciary, to announce their financial report and unveil
\ntheir parties's accountability in the first 100 days of their
\nadministration.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/kpu-announces-mapping-of-electoral-districts-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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