Objections pour in over 22 KPU candidates

JAKARTA (JP): The House of Representatives has received a significant number of public objections to the 22 government- proposed candidates for General Elections Commission (KPU) membership, a legislator said on Tuesday.

Ferry Mursyidan Baldan, deputy chairman of the House commission II on home and legal affairs which is screening the candidates, said here on Tuesday that most of the 900 letters sent to the commission questioned the candidates' integrity and protested their candidacy, while only a few supported them.

"We will consider the public's objections and support during selection of the candidates," he said, adding that after the screening, the candidates would undergo a fit and proper test between March 7 until March 10.

Among the candidates are former chairman of the Indonesian Muslim Students Association (HMI) Anas Urbaningrum and chairman of the Independent Election Monitoring Committee (KIPP) Mulyana W. Kusumah. Both Anas and Mulyana were on the 11-member team which selected the political parties eligible to contest the 1999 elections.

Other candidates include University of Indonesia (UI) political lecturers Chusnul Mariyah, Nazaruddin Sjamsuddin and Valina Singka; Surabaya-based Airlangga University's political lecturers Daniel Sparringa and Ramlan Surbakti; UI sociologist Imam B. Prasodjo; Muslim scholar Komaruddin Hidayat; and Catholic priest Mudji Sutrisno.

Chairman of the Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights Association (PBHI) Hendardi and Rachman Tolleng, an activist of the 1966 Group of Student Protesters which helped topple founding president Sukarno and put Soeharto in power, were also nominated by the government for the commission.

The establishment of an independent KPU as outlined in the state policy guidelines is seen as urgent because the original KPU, which consisted of representatives of the 48 political parties taking part in last year's general elections, was accused by many of being partial and unprofessional.

Ferry declined to elaborate on the public's objections and support of the 22 proposed candidates.

He said the commission would stick to the law on general elections in setting all criteria for the KPU's members and would not bow down to political pressure in selecting the candidates.

"Our commission will not merely depend on input from the public, but also on the criteria stipulated in the law and the commission itself," he said.

He cited that independence and personal integrity were two decisive characteristics which the candidates must possess in order to pass the selection process.

"The KPU's independence will depend on its members and will be a decisive factor in organizing free and fair elections," he said.

Amien Aryoso, chairman of the commission, said he was pessimistic that the commission would be able to select 11 out of the 22 candidates due to strong public objections.

"The commission has decided that the KPU will have 11 members and we want to pick those 11 people from the 22 candidates. But, the commission could ask the government to propose alternative names if most of the current candidates fail the fit and proper test," he said. (rms)