MP states initial meeting on election law bill postponed

Jakarta (ANTARA) - Member of Commission II of the House of Representatives Ahmad Doli Kurnia stated that the initial meeting to discuss the Draft Law on Amendments to Law Number 7 of 2017 concerning General Elections (Pemilu) has been postponed for an undetermined time.

He said that according to the schedule, Commission II of the House of Representatives should have held the meeting on Tuesday (14/4) to hear a presentation from the House of Representatives’ Expert Body (BKD).

“That afternoon (there should have been) an internal meeting with the BKD, but suddenly it was cancelled, postponed, and until now we still don’t know why,” Doli said at the parliamentary complex in Jakarta on Wednesday.

Although postponed, he admitted to having asked the BKD regarding the points that were planned to be presented. According to him, the points to be presented include an introduction, analysis, mapping points to respond to the Constitutional Court (MK) decision, and various inputs from the public on the electoral system.

“So, it hasn’t reached the draft academic paper, let alone the draft bill,” he said.

He stated that party political leaders and House of Representatives leaders need to immediately respond seriously to the Election Bill. Because, he said, the longer the discussion is delayed, the closer the election stages will be.

“If we look at the current law, the government should have formed the organising committee for the election by August or September this year,” he said.

Doli continued that ideally the Election Bill should only be discussed for two or three months, because the bill is a large and very important law. Moreover, he reminded that we are now entering the era of the second stage of reform development.

“We must avoid rushed, hasty discussions of the law ahead of the election. That means it won’t be objective,” he said.