Failed parties protest KPU decision

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.