KPU's ban threat on Mega up in the air

The status of a ban against the incumbent President Megawati Soekarnoputri and her running mate Hasyim Muzadi remains unclear, because as of Wednesday the General Elections Commission (KPU) said it had yet to meet with the provincial KPU (KPUD) that issued it in the first place. A KPU member said it could also accept the arguments of Megawati's campaign team.

KPU deputy chairman Ramlan Surbakti had said on Monday the KPU would uphold the ban, which would take effect if the Megawati camp did not respond in three days. But it also had to first meet the Bali KPUD, a meeting that had not taken place by Wednesday.

The provincial commission banned the campaign team from holding open-air rallies over charges of flouting election regulations by involving officials in campaign rallies. Bali is considered a stronghold of her Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P).

KPU said it had only met the pair's campaign team, whose lawyers said they would sue the KPUD for its move that they called "reckless and an overreaction".

Also, KPU member Mulyana W. Kusumah said that the KPU had discovered that the officials had not participated as campaigners, which would have been illegal. Nobody from rival campaign teams filed a complaint, he added, and the campaign "did not lead to a security disturbance".

Mulyana added that the KPUD had not heeded procedures in imposing the ban. "The Bali KPUD should have first issued a warning," he said. JP