Courts say no to debt-free letters

JAKARTA: The General Elections Commission (KPU) said on Thursday that it had received reports from two political parties that several lower courts had refused to issue non-bankruptcy and zero-debt letters for presidential and vice presidential candidates.

KPU deputy chairman Ramlan Surbakti said the courts, including the South Jakarta District Court and the Commercial Court, argued that they had no authority to issue such letters.

Earlier, the Justice and Human Rights Ministry issued a circular stipulating that district courts have to issue no-debt and non-bankruptcy certificates to presidential and presidential hopefuls, as required under the presidential election law.

KPU member Anas Urbaningrum said the KPU would hold a meeting with those parties to determine if those reports were true.

He also said that the KPU would ask the Supreme Court to issue an edict about the issue. --JP