House Commission selects eleven new KPU members

JAKARTA (JP): The House of Representatives Commission II for home and legal affairs selected 11 members on Friday for the new General Election Committee (KPU) who are to be the organizers and adjudicators of the 2004 general election.

The eleven passed a screening conducted over three consecutive days by the House Commission.

"Our commission has completed its task to select 11 out of 22 candidates proposed by the government, and the 11 who passed the test will be brought to a plenary session to gain the House's full endorsement," House Commission Chairman Amin Aryoso said.

Among the 11 are Mulyana W. Kusumah, secretary general of the Indonesian Election Supervisory Committee, who actively supervised the 1997 and 1999 elections.

Another is Ramlan Surbakti, a political lecturer at Airlangga University in Surabaya, East Java. He contributed to the drafting of political laws in 1998.

Also chosen was Anas Urbaningrum, former chairman of the Indonesian Muslim Students Association (HMI). He was also a member of Team-11 who selected the political parties that contended the last elections.

Rounding the list are Dan Dimara, Rusadi Kantaprawira, Imam B. Prasodjo, Nazaruddin Syamsuddin, Chusnul Mar'iyah, F.X. Mudji Sutrisno, Hamid Awaluddin and Valina Sinka Subekti.

They will replace the previous 48 member committee who were mostly representatives of the 48 political parties which contended the last elections.

The previous commission was dominated by party representatives and was much criticized because of its partiality during the elections, especially its rejection to endorse the elections' results.

Separately Commission II Deputy Chairman Hamdan Zoelva said general guidelines had been established in appraising the performance and capability of each candidate.

"We have decided that they (the candidates) should meet four requirements: they must show integrity, commitment for democracy, an understanding of KPU's management and politics," Hamdan said.

Two of the original 22 candidates submitted by the government for the KPU resigned their candidacies earlier.

Legal Aid and Human Rights Association chairman Hendardi and former 1966 student activist Rahman Tolleng withdrew before undergoing a screening.

Hendardi had reportedly resigned because he objected to the screening process which he regarded as lacking in transparency, while Rahman had, from the beginning, said he was unwilling to sit in the KPU.(rms/dja)