22 candidates named for election commission
22 candidates named for election commission
JAKARTA (JP): The House of Representatives announced on Monday
it had received a list of 22 candidates for the General Elections
Commission (KPU) from President Abdurrahman Wahid.
Deputy House Speaker A.M. Fatwa said the House, which received
the list on Friday, would approve half of these candidates for
the commission, as stipulated in the law on general elections
which the legislative body approved in June this year.
"As required by the law, the House will select the candidates
from among those suggested by the President," Fatwa, who is also
the deputy chairman of the National Mandate Party (PAN), said
during a plenary session of the House.
The chairman of House Commission II for legal and domestic
affairs, Ferry Mursyidan Baldan, said unlike government
officials, the candidates would not be selected through a
fit-and-proper test.
"There will be no fit-and-proper test. We will only hold a
dialog," Ferry, a legislator from Golkar Party, said.
He said a number of the candidates possessed the necessary
qualifications and had experience from last year's general
election.
Among the candidates are the former chairman of the Indonesian
Islamic Student Association, Anas Urbaningrum, and the chairman
of the Independent Election Monitoring Committee, Mulyana W.
Kusumah. Both were part of the 11-member team which selected the
political parties to contest last year's poll.
Other candidates include University of Indonesia political
lecturers Chusnul Mariyah, Nazaruddin Sjamsuddin and Valina
Singka, Airlangga University political lecturers Daniel Sparingga
and Ramlan Surbakti, University of Indonesia sociologist Imam B.
Prasodjo, Muslim scholar Komaruddin Hidayat and Catholic priest
Mudji Sutrisno.
The chairman of the Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights
Association, Hendardi, and Rachman Tolleng, an activist from the
1966 Group of Student Protesters, which helped topple founding
president Sukarno and put Soeharto into power, also were
nominated by Abdurrahman for the commission.
The House of Representatives endorsed on June 5 the general
election bill, which replaced Law No. 3/1999.
The establishment of an independent KPU as outlined in the
State Policy Guidelines is seen as urgent because the original
KPU, which consisted of representatives of the 48 political
parties taking part in last year's general election, was accused
by many of being partial and unprofessional.
When the government first asked the original KPU to disband,
members of the commission, particularly those from minor
political parties, refused to assent to the termination of the
commission. In the end, however, they agreed to comply and
disbanded in June. (jun)