Deputy Speaker of DPR Assures Election Bill Will Be Discussed at the Right Time

Jakarta (ANTARA) - Deputy Speaker of the Indonesian House of Representatives Saan Mustopa stated that parliament will certainly discuss the Draft Law on Amendments to Law Number 7 of 2017 on General Elections (RUU Pemilu) at the right time. “The DPR will definitely start at the appropriate and timely moment,” Saan said at the parliamentary complex in Senayan, Jakarta, on Friday. Saan conveyed this in response to the statement by the Coordinating Minister for Law, Human Rights, Immigration, and Correctional Services, Yusril Ihza Mahendra, who opened the possibility of the government taking over the initiative for the RUU Pemilu. Currently, the RUU Pemilu is an initiative of the DPR RI. According to him, his side is currently considering various matters, including Constitutional Court decisions that must be synchronised as well as the results of studies by party political factions. “Certainly, the DPR is considering all aspects so that the future RUU Pemilu is truly comprehensive and all aspects related to electoral matters will be discussed more deeply and in detail,” Saan said. Previously, Coordinating Minister Yusril stated that the government is currently waiting for the DPR to begin discussing the RUU Pemilu because, based on the agreement, the initiative for the bill lies with the DPR. The government, he said, targets completing the RUU Pemilu within 2.5 years of President Prabowo Subianto’s administration. However, he opened the possibility of re-determining the initiative for the RUU Pemilu if that target is not met. “If, for example, after 2.5 years it is still not completed, then there is no harm in renegotiating who will submit the draft,” Yusril said in Jakarta on Wednesday (29/4). Although still waiting for the RUU Pemilu draft from the DPR, Yusril said the government has already prepared an inventory of problems (DIM). “Because if the initiative is handed over to the DPR, then the government formulates the DIM, but if it has to be submitted to the government, the government must prepare the election law draft itself,” he said.