KPU rules parties can't change elected members

JAKARTA (JP): Electoral officials said on Friday that with the adoption of a combination of the proportional-district system in the June 7 elections, central boards of political parties should no longer be involved in establishing the elected members of the House of Representatives (DPR).

Chairman of the General Elections Commission (KPU) Rudini and KPU member and political observer Andi A. Mallarangeng separately said on Friday the establishment of the elected House members should now be based on the permanent list of legislative candidates. The list has been approved by the National Elections Committee (PPI).

"The executive boards of the political parties do not have the full authority to establish the elected House members anymore, as the mechanism will refer to the permanent list of legislative candidates," Rudini said after chairing a KPU plenary meeting.

The 1999 Electoral Law stipulates that the PPI establishes the elected House members based on the list of elected members provided by the political parties' executive boards.

Misunderstandings have stemmed from decrees issued by the KPU, which says the commission can take into account the recommendations of central boards of political parties regarding elected members in the House. This would open the doors for party candidates to become House members even if they did not win enough votes in their constituencies.

However Andi stressed the district system element of the elections, saying a complete reading of the decrees, No. 76A and 114, would reveal "the establishment of the elected House members is determined by the political parties' achievement at the regency-level election".

Rudini said input from parties' central boards only applied to parties with remaining votes.

Andi said the political parties should not neglect the spirit of the newly introduced proportional-district system, which inferred the elected members' closeness with their constituencies.

"We'll not use a pure proportional system anymore," he said.

Meanwhile, the official Elections Supervisory Committee (Panwaslu) on Friday issued a statement clarifying its role in validating the results of the June 7 election.

"Panwaslu only has the authority to accept or reject the poll results, with or without any recommendations," Panwaslu secretary Satya Arinanto said.

He said the statement was meant to clarify an earlier statement made by Panwaslu deputy chairman Todung Mulya Lubis, who said the supervisory committee could validate the poll results even if two-thirds of the KPU members declined to sign the official poll report.

The above problems, along with differing perceptions in seat allocations and validation of the polls has led to fears of a significant delay in subsequent stages of the political process, for example appointing regional representatives to the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR).

In Ujungpandang on Friday, political lecturer Kautsar Bailusy from Hasanuddin University suggested the selection of the 135- member Regional Representatives faction be conducted by a nine- member independent team, not by elected legislators.

The team should comprise "non-partisan figures, academicians, good bureaucrats and neutral ulema" to prevent the possible repeated practice of government influence in appointing regional representatives through local legislative bodies.(imn/edt/27)