Failed parties protest KPU decision

Moch. N. Kurniawan, Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The executives of political parties that have failed to pass General Elections Commission (KPU) screening rallied on Friday to demand that the commission overturn its decisions.

The Reform Savior Party of Struggle (PPP Reformasi), the Marhaenisme National Party, the Indonesian Nationalist Unity Party (PPNI), and the Bhinneka Party were among the protesting parties.

PPP Reformasi members vowed to stay at the mosque in the KPU compound until the commission revoked its decisions.

"We hope God will listen to our struggle," Mansyur Muhyidin, Banten's PPP Reformasi chairman said. The party's chairman Saleh Khalid also took part in the rally which was staged in the KPU compound.

Saleh said that he had had a quick discussion with KPU chairman Nazaruddin Sjamsuddin, who later in the day said the KPU would discuss the problem during a plenary session on Monday.

The PPP Reformasi claimed that North Sulawesi's Local Elections Commission (KPUD) had declared that the party had passed verification but the report reached the KPU one day after the Dec. 8 deadline.

The approval by South Sulawesi's Local Elections Commission would have helped the PPP Reformasi meet the minimum requirement of passing the screening in 21 provinces.

However, a source said the North Sulawesi Local Elections Commission later overturned its decision on Dec. 15, but it failed to let the KPU know.

PPNI chairman Gempar Soekarnoputra said his party and several other parties were demanding that the KPU revise its decision within 24 hours.

The KPU had previously said the results of the verification of parties would not be changed, but stressed that disappointed parties were free to challenge its decisions in court.

Earlier, some of those political parties filed complaints with the Elections Supervisory Committee, claiming violations by Local Elections Commission officials that had cost them the chance to contest the elections.

Separately, the Messenger of Peace and Love the Nation Party (PPDKB) said it accepted the KPU decision to bar it from running in the elections.

"The results simply reflect that there was tight competition among the parties wanting to contest the 2004 elections," the party chairman, Gregorius Seto Harianto, said in a press release.

He called on party members and executives not to join other parties but said they were free to vote for other parties that supported democracy, nationalism and non-discrimination.