Four parties pass preliminary screening for 2004 election

Four parties pass preliminary screening for 2004 election

A'an Suryana, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Of the nearly 240 political parties registered with the Ministry
of Justice and Human Rights, only four have passed preliminary
screening to be deemed legal entities.

The four parties are: the Prosperous Justice Party (PK
Sejahtera), the Indonesian Catholic-Democratic Party (PKD), the
Indonesian Union Party (PSI) and the Indonesian Justice and Unity
Party (PKP Indonesia).

Ramly Hutabarat, the ministry's director of state
administrative affairs, said preliminary screening was needed to
check whether a political party's central board met the
administrative requirements set by the ministry.

The requirements include the presence of a party secretariat
at the national level, the submission of names of party
executives and the party's ownership of secretariat stationary,
including computers and fax machines.

Obtaining legal entity status is mandatory for political
parties before they undergo another round of verification
conducted by the General Elections Commission (KPU). The latter
stage will determine whether a political party is eligible to
contest the general election in 2004.

The preliminary screening will last until the end of
September, before the verification by the KPU.

Ramly, who heads the screening team, said the ministry would
further examine whether parties that had obtained legal entity
status fulfilled the ministry's requirements in their respective
chapters and branches.

Five more parties will be examined later this month.

The nine parties were screened first because they had
confirmed their participation in the elections to the ministry
and completed administrative requirements.

Two more parties that have reregistered but not yet met the
requirements are the Golkar Party and the Nation Unity Party
(PPB). The will be screened for a second time in July.

There are 237 political parties listed in Indonesia, but only
50 have registered for the 2004 general election.

Political parties have until the end of September to register
for the 2004 election and meet the requirements.

The KPU will announce the eligible parties in December this
year.