KPU allocates legislative seats for East Timor

KPU allocates legislative seats for East Timor

JAKARTA (JP): The General Elections Commission (KPU) ruled on
Tuesday the troubled province of East Timor would receive four
seats in the House of Representatives (DPR) rather than the 13
stipulated by the elections law, according to KPU deputy chairman
Adnan Buyung Nasution.

"East Timor will be awarded four DPR seats, the same as their
previous allocations... based on justice and proportional
judgment," Adnan said after a plenary meeting of the KPU.

He said most of the members of the KPU -- comprising five
government representatives and 48 representatives of the
political parties contesting the June 7 general election -- felt
allotting 13 DPR seats to the tiny province would be unfair to
other provinces.

According to the 1999 law on elections, East Timor should be
given 13 DPR seats, one for each of its 13 regencies. On the
other hand, Irian Jaya, a much larger territory, is to receive 12
legislative seats to represent its 2.5 million residents.

In the past, East Timor always was allocated four seats
because of its relatively small population of some 800,000.

"We haven't decided on the allocation of seats for the regency
and provincial legislatures. We will do so on Wednesday," Adnan
said.

KPU chairman Rudini said separately the decision also was made
in response to the government's suggestion that East Timor be
allocated four seats that the 48 poll contestants would have to
compete for.

The KPU also decided the number of legislative seats for 11
other provinces: North Sumatra (24 seats), Riau (10), South
Sumatra (15), Lampung (18), Jakarta (18), West Java (82), Central
Java (59), Yogyakarta (6), East Java (67), West Kalimantan (9)
and West Nusa Tenggara (8 seats).

In another ruling on Tuesday, the KPU stated the 48 political
parties contesting the poll must announce with which party they
would share or combine excess votes. One legislative seat is
equal to 450,000 votes. The announcement should be made by May
31, a week before the June 7 poll.

Such agreements between parties are popularly called stambus
akoord.

"All parties are free to determine their partners. Such
agreements can be made between two, three or four parties," Adnan
said.

Adnan said early announcements were needed to avoid voter
confusion. "Every voter will realize that the party he or she
supports may coalesce with other parties."

Separately, election officials in Aceh on Tuesday began making
house calls to register eligible voters, Antara reported.

According to the chairman of the Aceh Provincial Elections
Committee, Ahmad Farhan Hamid, reports from all districts in the
province showed only 15 percent of the total 2,315,244 eligible
voters in the province had registered by Monday.

"The door-to-door system is expected to increase significantly
the number of registered voters, but we have no intention of
forcing people to register," Ahmad said.

In a related development, Abdurrahman Wahid, chairman of
Nahdlatul Ulama, the country's largest Muslim organization,
expressed his optimism that many people would register to vote
because this election would determine the future of a "new
Indonesia".

"Well, if people like myself start to register, I believe many
people will follow. I will vote for the new, democratic country,"
he said after registering at Ciganjur subdistrict in South
Jakarta.

Abdurrahman, or Gus Dur as he is better known, is the patron
of the National Awakening Party (PKB).

On Wednesday, Rudini, along with National Elections Committee
chairman Jacob Tobing, Minister of Home Affairs Syarwan Hamid and
Directorate General for General Administration and Regional
Autonomy Ryaas Rasyid, visited polling committees in Bekasi and
East Jakarta. (edt)