KPUDs cut legislative candidate list

KPUDs cut legislative candidate list

Apriadi Gunawan and Andi Hajramurni, The Jakarta Post,
Medan/Makassar

Ahead of the expected announcement by the central KPU, the
regional KPU offices have already announced the final list of
legislative candidates that failed the final screening to compete
in the upcoming election.

In the North Sumatra capital of Medan, the North Sumatra
General Elections Commission (KPUD) has decided to bar 101 of
1,347 total legislative candidates from contesting the elections,
as they had failed to fulfill the requirements set by the KPU.

Irham Buana Nasution, chairman of the North Sumatra KPU, said
on Monday that the candidates had already been removed from the
list of legislative candidates eligible to contest the elections.

"Their names will be submitted to their political parties on
Tuesday," he said.

Irham said the candidates were omitted for a variety of
reasons, including failure to submit their academic diplomas,
failure to resign from the civil service, not possessing an
official party membership card or because they had withdrawn.

He said the decision to drop them from the elections was made
on Sunday, when the KPU held a plenary meeting in Medan to
discuss the verification results for legislative candidates.

The 101 candidates represent 22 political parties.

The North Sumatra KPU's announcement of verification results
is ahead of the central KPU. The central KPU is scheduled to
complete the verification process on Tuesday, and will announce
the final candidates on Thursday and Friday.

Separately, chairman of the North Sumatra Election Supervisory
Committee (Panwaslu) Choking Susilo Sakeh said they had received
reports from the public that some 50 candidates had forged their
academic diplomas, including those candidates who had already
passed the KPU verification process.

Choking said Panwaslu would immediately notify the KPU of
those candidates suspected of submitting forged diplomas.

Panwaslu has called upon the KPU to investigate the reports,
and if proven true, to drop the candidates. He also said Panwaslu
would report the candidates to the police for further
investigation.

But, Irham said the list of legislative candidates was final,
and the KPU would not change it. He said that it is the
responsibility of the police force to investigate whether the
report was true, and not the KPU.

"These cases have entered the legal realm," he said, adding
that forging school diplomas was a crime.

Separately, 95 out of total 1,226 legislative candidates in
the South Sulawesi capital of Makassar have been declared
ineligible for various reasons, including the failure to complete
the administrative requirements of the KPU.

Muhammad Darwis, a member of South Sulawesi KPU, said that the
decision to bar the candidates from joining the election was
decided on Monday in KPU's plenary meeting.

"The plenary meeting approved 1,131 candidates," he said.