29 parties fail early screenings
A'an Suryana, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Twenty-nine political parties have failed to pass the government's preliminary screening to contest the 2004 general election.
The 29 parties represent about a quarter of the total 112 parties that registered at the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights. The registration closed on Monday.
An official at the Ministry said on Tuesday that the 29 parties had failed to meet some basic requirements, that include provisions such as the need for a party to have a permanent headquarters, equipment to support the work of the headquarters as well as a complete organizational structure, Wicipto Setiadi said.
Nine out of the remaining 83 parties have been given the green light to. They are. the Justice and Prosperity Party (PK Sejahtera); Democratic Catholic Party (PKD), Indonesian Union Party (PSI), Justice and Unity Party of Indonesia (PKP Indonesia), Crescent Star Party (PBB), the Crescent Party of Reform (PBR), the Love the Nation Democratic Party (PDKB), the National Concern Party (PKPB) and the Love the Nation Peace Promoter Party (PPDKB). These parties need only one more step to be eligible for the election.
An announcement will be made by the Ministry today (Wednesday) whether or not nine other parties will passed the final screening stage, Wicipto said.
The remaining 65 political parties will be screened from Sept. 1 to Sept. 27 which is the third batch of screening held by the Ministry.
The Ministry screened nine political parties in the first batch of party verifications that started in June, and nine others in the second batch.
Among things to verify included whether or not a party has sufficient branches and chapters nationwide. A party is required to have chapters in more than half of the total 32 provinces throughout the country.
The Ministry is to complete its screening by early October, as party registration for the election will be closed on Oct. 9.
Registration with the General Election Commission (KPU) is the final step for a party to contest the election, set to be held in April next year.