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failure to resign from the civil service, not possessing an official party membership card or because they had withdrawn.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.