JP/4/KPU

JP/4/KPU

KPU to increase House seats for Maluku

Moch. N. Kurniawan
The Jakarta Post
Jakarta

In response to complaints over the House of Representatives seats
allocation in several provinces, the General Elections Commission
(KPU) is slated to provide Maluku with an extra seat, at the
expense of West Nusa Tenggara.

The extra seat will increase the House seats up for grabs in
the 2004 general election in Maluku from three to four, and
reduce the seats in West Nusa Tenggara from 11 to 10, KPU deputy
chairman Ramlan Surbakti said on Thursday.

KPU, he added, looks to make no changes in the House seats
allocation in Papua and North Sumatra, which will have 10 and six
seats at stake respectively.

Ramlan said the KPU was attempting to set the number of House
seats at 550 in accordance with the general election law. The
demands for more seats had prompted KPU to ask the House to
revise the election law so as to allow it to increase the seats
to 560.

"The commission thinks it is unfair for Maluku to have as many
seats as the new province of North Maluku, which is once part of
Maluku territory," Ramlan said.

He said the KPU would immediately announce the House seats
allocation, but no date had been set.

Political parties in Maluku as well as their representatives
at the House have filed complaints with the KPU for allocating
the province with just three House seats for the 2004 election,
equal the seats to be given to two-year-old North Maluku.

Maluku was allocated six seats in the 1999 election.

Legislators from Papua and North Sulawesi also filed the same
complaints with KPU as they have their seat allocation cut due to
regional split. West Irian Jaya will take three seats from Papua,
while Gorontalo will shave three seats off North Sulawesi.

Ramlan also said the commission had decided to withdraw its
previous radiogram to its offices in all provinces, regencies and
municipalities (KPUDs) that allows them to verify membership
cards issued by political parties.

"The radiogram is not in line with the KPU instruction that
instructs KPU in regencies/municipalities to directly visit the
party members. Therefore we withdraw it," he said.

He said the radiogram was sent due to concern over limited
time to carry out factual screening.

Provincial and regency/municipal KPUs must finish their field
verification by Nov. 20, and report the results to the KPU by the
end of November.

KPU will announce parties eligible to run for the 2004
election on Dec. 2.

Ramlan said the new radiogram was sent on Thursday and asked
all KPUDs that had conducted factual verification based on the
previous radiogram to restart their screening.

According to him, KPU offices in Nganjuk in East Java and
several others in West Sumatra would have to restart their
factual verification.