11 more parties pass KPU administrative screening

Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Bogor, West Java

The General Elections Commission (KPU) announced on Saturday that 11 more parties had passed its administrative screening and said the Election Supervisory Committee (Panwaslu) had been asked to monitor the verification process.

KPU member Mulyana W. Kusumah said Panwaslu was expected to submit its report of violations committed by either political or the commission personnel conducting the verifications.

Several parties claimed to have submitted documents for more than the minimum requirement of offices in 21 provinces, but the KPU found different facts.

Mulyana said parties that may fail to pass the administrative screening could file lawsuits or seek judicial reviews by the Supreme Court if they were dissatisfied with KPU's decision.

"We will give them special treatment if a court or the Supreme Court delivers a verdict in favor of them by Dec. 2, when we announce which parties qualify for next year's elections," he said.

Forty-four parties have been subjected to KPU's administrative screening, while six parties that won at least 2 percent of the vote in the 1999 elections automatically have the right to contest next year's elections.

With 11 more parties qualifying in the second-round verification on Saturday, there will be 26 parties undergoing field examination in the provinces and regencies/municipalities, a process that lasts until Nov. 20.

The parties to pass the administrative screening on Saturday were the Nation Unifying Party (PPB), Indonesia Our Motherland Party, Love Indonesian Nation Democratic Party, the Prosperous Mandate Party, the Bhinneka Indonesia Party, the Indonesian Defenders of Democracy Party (PPDI), the Democratic Glory Party, the Pancasila Patriots Party, the Indonesian Workers Congress Party, Love the Nation Peace Promoter Party and the Indonesian Nahdhatul Ummah Unity Party.

Field examinations will include a check of the locations of a party's branch offices in at least 21 provinces and in two-thirds of the total regencies/municipalities in the 21 provinces and a field verification of members of parties in the regency/municipality level.

The KPU will give one party three days to complete its requirements and will conduct a second check when the party is ready. The party will be disqualified if it fails the recheck.

Mulyana also said the KPU would become an study institute after the completion of the 2004 elections.

"The KPU could conduct a survey and analysis on the upcoming elections until the commission members end their five-year terms," he said.