KPU to bring forward 2004 election result

KPU to bring forward 2004 election result

Moch . N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The General Elections Commission (KPU) decided on Tuesday to
advance the announcement of the 2004 legislative election results
from between April 21 and 30 to between April 21 and 28, and the
number of seats each political party gets in the House of
Representatives (DPR) from between May 7-8 to April 29-30.

KPU deputy chairman Ramlan Surbakti said Tuesday that the
change was aimed at giving the chance to political parties or
coalitions of parties to make their presidential and vice
presidential nominations between May 1 and May 7.

According to Ramlan, the legislative election will still be
held on April 5, while the presidential election is still
scheduled to be held on July 5 for the first round and Sept. 20
for the second round.

Ramlan also said that the KPU would not change the Oct. 9
deadline for political parties to register with the commission.

"We will register the parties up until midnight on Thursday,
Oct. 9," he told a press briefing.

On Tuesday, four more parties registered with the KPU -- the
United Development Party (PPP), the Peace and Prosperity Party
(PDS), the National Awakening Party (PKB) and the Prosperous
Justice Party (PKS).

With these latest registrations, 17 of the 50 parties that
passed the screening by the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights
are now officially listed with the KPU.

The remaining 33 parties must register with the commission on
the last two days of registration -- Wednesday and Thursday -- or
otherwise they will forfeit the chance to contest next year's
elections.

Separately, KPU chairman Nazaruddin Sjamsuddin said a number
of foreign governments and organizations, including the European
Union and Australia, had told the KPU they were interested in
monitoring the 2004 elections.

The KPU through its representative offices abroad will send
out invitations to foreign governments and organizations to
monitor the 2004 elections, he said.

"We see the monitoring of Indonesia's elections by foreign
governments as being good for the country. It will promote
transparency and strengthen the image of the 2004 elections in
the eyes of the people," he said after a discussion on Tuesday
with the Indonesian Rectors' Forum on general election
management.

He also said that all monitoring agencies would be accredited
by the KPU before they would be allowed to monitor the elections.

Rectors' Forum member Thoby Mutis, who is also the rector of
Trisakti University, welcomed the planned election monitoring by
foreign governments.

"What they (the foreign governments) should do is to see that
the rules here are obeyed. We all want the 2004 elections to be
good elections," he said.

The forum is planning to participate in monitoring the 2004
elections, as happened during the 1999 elections.

In his talks with the Rectors' Forum, Nazaruddin said the KPU
would not hold an open tender for the supply of the information
technology software needed for the 2004 elections. This was so as
to avoid leaks, he said.

"We want to maximize our protection in IT software. If we were
to hold an open tender for the software, there would be a danger
that firms could provide information about the software to third
parties, something that could endanger the whole system," he
said.