'Jakarta KPUD will be announced today'

Arya Abhiseka, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The General Elections Commission (KPU) failed on Tuesday to announce the names of the provincial General Elections Commission (KPUD) members as promised, and plans instead to reveal the 155 names of all 31 provincial KPUD members on Wednesday.

Previously, chairman of the KPU Nazaruddin Sjamsuddin told The Jakarta Post that the commission planned to announce the members of all provincial KPUDs, including the Jakarta KPUD, either on May 19 or May 20.

However, the KPU was at a plenary meeting until late evening on Tuesday to determine the eligible members. The public announcement is to be made on Wednesday morning at 11 a.m.

One of the responsibilities of the KPU, the organizer of the 2004 general elections, is to establish the KPUDs, or provincial branches of the commission, that will organize the general elections at the provincial level.

For the Jakarta KPUD, 192 candidates were previously screened by an independent team established by Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso, out of which ten eligible candidates were selected to compete for the five vacant slots.

Nazaruddin then conducted a fit and proper test to select the five members last week. The suitability test required all candidates to possess general and technical knowledge on the general elections mechanism.

The ten candidates vying for the five Jakarta KPUD seats are: Ariza Putra from the Indonesian National Youth Committee (KNPI); Juri Ardianto from the Independent Election Monitoring Committee (KIPP); M. Taufik from the Jakarta Research Center (PPEJ); Hamdan Rasyid from the Indonesian Ulemas Council (MUI); Rachman Nansyaah from the academic community; Tubagus Haryo Kardiyanto from the Legal Aid Institute (LBH); and public figures Parnawaty Khalid, Imas Sidik, Mufliza and Nursyamsiah.

The country's first direct general election will be held next year, beginning with the legislative election on April 5, with the presidential election to fall between June and August.