Gus Dur installs new KPU members

Gus Dur installs new KPU members

JAKARTA (JP): President Abdurrahman Wahid installed on Tuesday
11 new members of the General Elections Commission (KPU).

The new members were installed at a ceremony at Bina Graha
presidential office (above photo), which was also attended by the
House of Representatives (DPR) Speaker Akbar Tandjung and top
cabinet ministers.

The new members, endorsed by the DPR last month, were Mulyana
W. Kusumah, Ramlan Surbakti, Anas Urbaningrum, Daan Dimara,
Rusadi Kantaprawira, Imam B. Prasodjo, Nazaruddin Syamsuddin,
Chusnul Mar'iyah, F.X. Mudji Sutrisno, Hamid Awaluddin and Valina
Singka Subekti.

They were installed to replace the election commission's 53
previous members, who represented the 48 political parties that
contended the 1999 elections.

The replacement of the election commission members, charged
with maintaining the institution's independence and ensuring free
and fair elections in the future, was held in line with an
ongoing review of the 1999 political laws.

Mulyana had earlier called on the House and the government to
speed up the review of political laws and set comprehensive
regulations on general elections, including the election
commission.

He said the quality of the next elections would depend, not
only on the election commission's independence, but also on the
electoral system and laws.

Activists and political analysts have been calling on the
government and the People's Consultative Assembly to include the
district system and the bicameral parliamentary system in the
Constitution, so that legislators would be more loyal to their
constituents than to their own political parties.(byg)