Courts say no to debt-free letters

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