Yusril pessimistic of screening deadline<\/p>\n
A'an Suryana, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
A minister expressed doubt Thursday that the Ministry of Justice
\nand Human Rights could finish screening the huge number of
\npolitical parties before Sept. 27, meaning either the general
\nelections schedule was reviewed or not all parties were verified.<\/p>\n
\"It looks impossible now for the Justice Ministry to complete
\nthe screening in accordance with the deadline set in the general
\nelection schedule because it still has 66 more new political
\nparties to verify,\" Justice and Human Rights Minister Yusril Ihza
\nMahendra said here on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Yusril was responding to the call by President Megawati
\nSoekarnoputri on Wednesday that the justice ministry and the
\nGeneral Election Committee (KPU) stick to the election schedule.<\/p>\n
He said his office could finish screening at the earliest on
\nOct. 20, asking for another three weeks to complete the job.<\/p>\n
Out of 112 new political parties registered with the ministry,
\nonly 84 have met administrative requirements for verification. So
\nfar, the ministry has okayed 18 parties, including the major
\nparties, while the remaining 66 are still being screened.<\/p>\n
Yusril said the KPU looked unwilling to extend the screening
\nperiod until Oct. 20, and if the current tight schedule was
\nmaintained, a part of the remaining 66 parties could not be
\nexamined.<\/p>\n
However, he conceded that it was difficult for the KPU to
\naccept the proposed extension as the registration of political
\nparties would close on Oct. 9.<\/p>\n
\"If the KPU still rejects to extend the Oct. 9 deadline, it
\nwill not be a disaster because many parties will not be verified
\nand will not be allowed to contend the elections,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Separately, KPU Chairman Nazaruddin Syamsuddin said it was
\nimpossible for the KPU to allow the extension of the screening
\nperiod because it would give less time to verify parties
\ncontending the general election scheduled for April 5.<\/p>\n
\"To the KPU, it is difficult to extend the Oct. 9 deadline to
\ncomplete the parties' verification, because our schedule is
\nalready tight. However, we will firstly listen to the Justice
\nMinistry's argument before we make a decision on that matter,\" he
\nsaid, adding that the KPU would have enough time to verify a
\nscore of parties if the screening period was extended.<\/p>\n
He noted that according to the current schedule, the KPU was
\nsupposed to finish verifying political parties on Dec. 2.<\/p>\n
The general election law stipulates that all political
\nparties, including major and old ones, have to undergo two rounds
\nof verification to ensure their existence and preparations to
\ncontend the elections.<\/p>\n
Yusril said he would not take account for any blame and
\nprotest from any sides, including new political parties, if the
\nparties could not contend the elections.<\/p>\n
\"Don't blame us if the unverified parties are finally not
\nallowed to exercise their rights to contend the elections because
\nwe have tried to do the best and the KPU should extend the
\ndeadline,\" said Yusril.<\/p>\n
The KPU is scheduled to announce the political parties that
\nare eligible to contest the elections on Dec. 2.<\/p>",
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