Govt to verify 237 new parties

JAKARTA: The government has set up two teams to examine the 237 new political parties that have registered themselves with the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights.

Minister of Justice and Human Rights Yusril Ihsa Mahendra said here on Tuesday that the two teams had been formed in cooperation with the Ministry of Home Affairs and would begin the vetting process next month.

Yusril explained that the vetting was aimed at selecting those new parties that had satisfied the requirements of Law No. 31/2002 on political parties.

"Following the selection process, we will announce the names of the political parties that will be recognized by the government," he said.

Ramly Hutabarat, who will lead the selection teams, said that the new parties' executive boards would be examined by 80 officials from the two ministries while their provincial and regency chapters would be verified by the two ministries' provincial, regency and municipality offices. --Antara