Less than 20 parties will contest 2004 election: KPU
The Jakarta Post , Jakarta
Less than 20 parties will be eligible to contest the 2004 elections, a member of the General Elections Commission (KPU) revealed on Friday.
In 1999, 48 parties contested the elections, dubbed the country's first ever democratic polls. Only one third of them won seats in the House of Representatives.
Mulyana W. Kusumah, the KPU member in charge of parties' field verifications, said eight more parties stood a good chance of contesting the 2004 elections, after passing factual verification in 18 provinces.
"Those eight parties are close to qualification. They just have to wait for reports from three other provincial election commissions to meet the minimum requirement of passing verification in two thirds of the country's provinces," Mulyana said as quoted by Antara.
The eight parties will join 12 others, which have secured berths in the 2004 elections. Six of them -- the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan), the Golkar Party, the United Development Party (PPB), the National Awakening Party (PKB), the National Mandate Party (PAN), and the Crescent Star Party (PBB) -- met the 1999 electoral threshold and automatically qualify for the elections in line with the election law.
The Reform Star Party, the Prosperous Justice Party, the Indonesia Justice and Unity Party (PKPI), the Democratic Party, The Concern for the Nation Functional Party (PKPB), and the Freedom Bull National Party (PNBK) won their tickets to the upcoming polls on Tuesday, after surviving the lengthy selection process.
KPU will announce all parties that pass factual verification and qualify for the 2004 elections on Sunday.
Mulyana said that after the eligible parties were announced there would be no changes.
Meanwhile, KPU has issued a circular No. 1168/15/XII/2003 stipulating the deadline for submission of factual verification reports to the provincial council (DPD).
The circular was delivered to 19 KPUD heads and their city or regency KPU, including Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam, West Sumatera, Riau, Bengkulu, the Riau Islands, Jakarta, West Java, Central Java, Yogyakarta, Banten, North Sulawesi, Central Sulawesi, South Sulawesi, Southeast Sulawesi and West Papua.
The circular ordered KPUDs to submit their factual verification reports to the Regional Representatives Council (DPD) candidates on Sunday at the latest.
KPU will determine candidates for DPD and DPRD members in the 2004 elections on Tuesday next week.
The commission will also ask all parties contesting the 2004 elections to refrain from holding election campaigns at Indonesian embassies overseas. Chairman of the KPU Nazaruddin Sjamsuddin issued the warning on Friday on the grounds that monitoring the election campaigns of parties abroad would be difficult to control.
Indonesia will hold its eighth general election since its independence on April 5 and the first direct presidential election on July 5, with its run-off on Sept. 20.