KPU casts doubt on 2004 general election<\/p>\n
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Members of General Election Commission (KPU) expressed their
\ndoubt on Monday that the next elections would take place in 2004
\nas scheduled mainly due to legal technicalities.<\/p>\n
In a meeting with Vice President Hamzah Haz at his office, the
\nKPU delegates said they could not exercise the authority they
\nneeded to begin the preparations for the election because of the
\nabsence of laws on elections and political parties.<\/p>\n
\"Our current job is guessing what the country's electoral
\nsystem will be. We cannot even establish our branches in
\nprovinces and regencies because the laws are not there yet. We do
\nnot have the authority or the money,\" KPU member Imam Prasodjo
\ntold reporters after the meeting with Hamzah.<\/p>\n
\"That's why we've come to the President and Vice President to
\nask whether this government is serious in establishing the
\ngeneral election commission.\"<\/p>\n
The KPU delegation was led by its chairman Nazaruddin
\nSyamsoeddin.<\/p>\n
The commission has repeatedly said it will take it two years
\nto prepare a fair and just election.<\/p>\n
Currently the government is finalizing the supporting draft
\nlaws. It argues that the drafts cannot be presented to the House
\nof Representatives for deliberation due to the continuing delay
\nof the 1945 Constitution amendment on the new system of
\npresidential election and legislative body at the People's
\nConsultative Assembly.<\/p>\n
Nazaruddin said the bills could be submitted to the House
\nwithout waiting for the amendment, unless the uncertainty was
\nprolonged.<\/p>\n
\"I hope the two bills, currently being finalized at the
\nMinistry of Home Affairs, would be endorsed before June,\"
\nNazaruddin said.<\/p>\n
Imam said that KPU needed the laws to start its program
\nimmediately, so it could work without being pressed for time
\nprior to the elections.<\/p>\n
Lack of funds is another problem KPU is facing, Nazaruddin
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
He said the commission would need a total of Rp 3 trillion
\n(US$300 million) to finance the general election process and the
\ngovernment has not yet provided the money. Nazaruddin did not
\nelaborate what the whopping amount of money was for.<\/p>\n
During the meeting with Hamzah, Nazaruddin also said KPU
\nplanned to hold preliminary registration for 25 percent of
\neligible voters in August this year, in a bid to establish a
\ndatabase of prospective voters.<\/p>\n
According to the current election law, a physically and
\nmentally healthy citizen at least 17 years of age, or younger but
\nmarried, is eligible to vote.<\/p>\n
\"But the registration can only be conducted if the government
\ndisburses the funds for us immediately,\" Nazaruddin said.<\/p>\n
He insisted that the government's support for KPU was crucial.<\/p>\n
\"A general election is one of the government's programs.
\nShould it fail, then it means the current government also fails,\"
\nNazaruddin said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/kpu-casts-doubt-on-2004-general-election-1447893297",
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