Lawmakers deny PKB's backroom deal claim

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

At least two lawmakers denied on Friday any backroom deals during the deliberation of the existing presidential Election Law, claiming that individual interests have never been taken into account in discussing and endorsing any law.

"The deliberation process is not aimed at giving an advantage to certain figures. We arrive at a consensus after taking many aspects into consideration," Alihardi Kiaidemak of the United Development Party (PPP) faction told The Jakarta Post here.

Irsyad Sudiro of The Golkar Party agreed with Alihardi, saying that requirements for presidential candidates were set up for the sake of national interests alone.

"We do not make a law to benefit or to hinder certain individuals. We make laws to build a system," he stated.

The two House of Representatives legislators were commenting on a statement by National Awakening Party (PKB) leader Alwi Shihab that a number of backroom deals were reached among party factions during the deliberation of the presidential election bill.

According to Alwi, House factions agreed that a candidate would not be required to hold a university degree so that Megawati Soekarnoputri could become eligible, the word "defendant" dropped to accommodate Golkar leader Akbar Tandjung, the 15 percent electoral threshold was lowered to 3 percent for Amien Rais, and the capability to read was dropped for Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid.

Megawati, the incumbent President, does not have a university degree, while Akbar, was sentenced to three years in jail for corruption before the Supreme Court cleared him in February.

Amien, on the other hand, is leader of the National Mandate Party (PAN), which garnered only 6.5 percent of the votes in the April 5 legislative election, while Gus Dur, chief of PKB's board of patrons, has poor eyesight.

The General Elections Commission (KPU) earlier issued a decree requiring presidential candidates and their running mates to have at least 50 percent visibility, a requirement seen by PKB and other pro-democracy activists as an attempt to disqualify nearly blind Gus Dur from running in the country's first direct presidential election on July 5.

Alihardi and Irsyad said the presidential election law was open to interpretation. "It is not so strange for Alwi to make such an interpretation given the fact that Gus Dur is PKB's presidential candidate," said Alihardi.

Meanwhile, supporters of Gus Dur intensified their pressure against the KPU in East Java on Friday, prompting security officers to deploy more police around the KPU offices in the province, the stronghold of PKB.

The commission told PKB earlier that Gus Dur was unfit to run due to his poor eyesight. The KPU will officially announce the eligibility of each candidate on Saturday (today).

Gus Dur's supporters in Pasuruan, East Java, had threatened to occupy the KPU office there until Gus Dur was cleared to run.

Moch. Sodiq, chairman of the regency branch of KPU in Pasuruan, said that he had also conveyed the demand of Gus Dur's supporters to the KPU in Jakarta.

KPU Surabaya member Ulfa said protesters must not try to interfere with the activities of the commission or they could be charged with disrupting the election.

Meanwhile, hundreds of Muslim clerics (kyai) and their students have staged rallies outside the KPU building in Cirebon, West Java over the past two days.

Members of Garda Bangsa, a security wing of PKB, also were present at the rally to put pressure on the KPU.

The angry PKB supporters also "sealed off" the KPU building with huge banners in a show of support for Gus Dur candidacy.

Nasiruddin Sidiq, principal of the Kali Wadas Muslim boarding school, said he and his followers would continue to surround the KPU office until the KPU showed good faith about reviewing the "discriminative" regulation.