A disgraceful performance

The performance of our General Elections Commission (KPU) is shoddy and disgraceful. The work there is done by adventurers, who do their job with an eye to serving their own personal interests: people who are busy making demands, such as the size of their honorary fees; a Rp 1 billion subsidy for each party; cars for Commission members; who gets the right to print the ballots; times to go into recess; distribution of blazers and several other facilities.

While during the New Order regime the General Elections Institute -- whose members were mostly Cabinet ministers and other government officials -- was always busy looking primarily after the interests of the ruling party, Golkar, now we have a commission that cannot keep a proper distance from the 48 political parties which it represents. The current commission is always busy looking after narrow interests -- that of the political parties -- and even personal interests.

The delay in the announcement of the list of candidates for membership in the national legislature is but one link in the chain of inabilities of the commission's chairman, deputy chairman and members to complete their noble tasks adequately. Those respected individuals have failed to keep up their dignity and their reputation while entrusted with the task of attending to a wider interest -- that of the entire nation.

-- Media Indonesia, Jakarta