Comedian Qomar to contest election

Comedian Qomar to contest election

Nana Rukmana, The Jakarta Post/Indramayu

Comedian-cum-legislator, Nurul Qomar, plans to enliven the direct
Indramayu regional elections by running for the office of regent,
a party official said on Friday.

Qomar, who is currently a legislator in the House of
Representatives, planned to represent the Indramayu chapter of
the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), local party
secretary Ono Surono confirmed on Friday.

"He filled out the registration forms on Thursday and will vie
with a number of figures ... for a place in the elections to be
held in October," Ono said.

Before Qomar is selected for the PDI-P, he must compete with
10 other party candidates in a party congress, which would run
for two whole months, from June to August, Ono said.

Four of the 10 candidates are PDI-P members; Supito
Wirahadikusumah and Kuswanto, both current Indramayu regional
councillors, and Kusnadi and Sutanto Asman, both former West Java
provincial councillors.

The six others come from a range of backgrounds; Satori is the
former Indramayu administration secretary; Edi Subaedi Bendot,
the personal secretary of West Java's vice-governor; Hassanudin,
a Bandung Regency Supervisory Board official; Eddy Rosadi, the
district chief of Bantargebang, Bekasi; Lt. Col. Jamhari is from
the Siliwangi Military Command III; and K.H. Dasuki Adnan is a
noted Muslim cleric.

Ono said the candidates had begun registering on May 30 and
the process would end on June 5.

Indramayu PDI-P organizer Yudi Wahyudi said the election law
stipulated candidates must register themselves and could not
appoint representatives.

Indramayu, Bandung, Karawang, Sukabumi and Depok will be the
first regencies in West Java to hold direct elections for
regional leaders this year.

Ono said he believed the PDI-P congress would be free from
vote-buying this year.

"The process of politics definitely needs a lot of funds.
However, the convention that we organize will not be made into an
event that supports such behavior."

"The PDI-P is a major party, able to finance each of its
interests with its own funds. So we emphasize that there will be
no (vote buying) in the convention. If any of the candidates are
found resorting to such a practice, we will certainly dismiss
them," Ono said.