Legislator deplores PDI candidate list

JAKARTA (JP): A legislator criticized the government yesterday for accepting the election candidate list from the rift-ridden Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI), saying that the list breached the electoral law.

A.A. Oka Mahendra, a member of House Commission II for home affairs, said in a hearing with Minister of Home Affairs Yogie S.M. that the PDI had listed 903 legislative candidates although the law allowed 850 to be listed.

Oka said the electoral law stated that the number of legislative candidates that a contesting group could propose was twice the number of contested seats in the House.

Next year, Golkar, the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) and the United Development Party (PPP) will contest 425 seats in the 500-seat House of Representatives. The remaining 75 seats are reserved for the Armed Forces.

Golkar and PPP have each submitted 850 names of legislative candidates to the National Elections Institute.

"Accepting a list with more than 850 candidates is against the law," said Oka, a House member from the ruling Golkar organization.

Yogie, who is also chairman of the National Elections Institute, did not answer Oka's objection. Yogie responded by saying that the electoral law should be properly abided by.

Separately, the secretary-general of the national elections institute, Suryatna Subrata, said the institute would return the proposed list to the PDI central board.

"The PDI central board has to revise the list and nominate a maximum of 850 names," Suryatna told reporters after the hearing.

Oka questioned why the government had assigned the National Council for Defense and Security, instead of the Minister of Home Affairs, to develop guidelines on campaigning for next year's election.

President Soeharto has asked the National Council for Defense and Security to draw up new guidelines for the 1997 election campaign.

"Why should the task go to the council? Is the Home Affairs Ministry too busy supervising the existing three political organizations to do it?" Oka asked.

Yogie said that next year street rallies involving huge numbers of people would no longer be permitted because they had the potential to disturb security and public order.

"We should develop an electioneering system which emphasizes each party's programs on offer to potential voters. It would be more educational politically," he said.

On the heating political climate in the lead-up to the 1997 general election, Yogie said it was still within tolerable limits. (imn)