KPU delays announcement

JAKARTA: The General Elections Commission (KPU) delayed on Wednesday its announcement on whether or not the last three political parties had passed its administrative screening process, saying it had not yet thoroughly reviewed the parties' documents.

KPU deputy chairman Ramlan Surbakti said the commission's verification teams needed more time to ensure that they had used the correct data on the census and voters to verify the parties.

"We still need time to re-check the last three parties' documents. We plan to announce it (the verification result) on Thursday," he told reporters.

The three parties are: the Gotong Royong Party, the Indonesian Nationalist Unity Party and the Glorious Marhaen Nationalist Party.

This was not the first delay for the KPU. After releasing the names of the 15 parties that had passed the screening between Oct. 1 and Oct. 15, KPU planned to announce on Oct. 25 the names of 29 parties that needed to resubmit their documents.

A reliable source said seven parties had definitely failed to pass the screening process.

On Tuesday, the KPU announced that four parties -- the Catholic Party, the Islamic Party, the Pro-Republic Party and the Indonesian Workers Party -- had failed the screening. -- JP