Panwaslu says government intervention unlawful

JAKARTA (JP): The Elections Supervisory Committee (Panwaslu) said on Sunday the government had no right to take over from the General Elections Commission (KPU) if it fails to certify the poll results on Monday.

Committee deputy chairman Mulyana W. Kusumah said in a televised interview that, although the president is officially responsible for the elections, there is no legal basis for the government to validate the election results.

"There are no clauses in the General Election Law saying the president can take over from the KPU to validate the poll results," Mulyana said in an interview broadcast by state-run TVRI.

He was responding to comments from KPU chairman Rudini and Minister of Justice Muladi, who said the President would validate the poll results if less than two-thirds of the 53 KPU members signed.

"The KPU is undergoing a test of integrity," Mulyana said.

Citing Government Regulation No. 33 issued in May, Mulyana said Panwaslu was authorized to validate the election results even if less than two-thirds of KPU members approved.

Twenty-two parties have threatened to reject the poll results, citing unsettled violations and breaches of the principle of fair and honest elections. Andi Rasyid Djalil, chairman of the Democratic Islam Party (PID), one of the protesting parties, repeated the threat on Sunday.

Mulyana W. Kusumah said that the official poll watchdog would "take a decision which is final and binding" if the KPU fails to certify the poll results on Monday.

He said a move to boycott the poll results would be irrelevant, because election procedures had so far lived up to people's demands for fairness and honesty.

"There are no reasons to reject the polls, because ... the election procedures have been taken appropriately in a bid to lay a platform for a just and fair election and impartial law enforcement in the future," Mulyana said.

Mulyana said Panwaslu had verified reports of violations and encouraged law enforcers to take measures against all election violations that were also criminal offenses.

Separately, the Justice and Unity Party (PKP) announced it would sign the poll results, but demanded political assurance from the KPU, Panwaslu and political parties that gained House of Representatives seats that all poll offenders would be punished.

"We reluctantly approve the poll results ... to immediately put an end to the long uncertainty stemming from internal bickering in the KPU," PKP representative in the KPU Sutradara Gintings said in a statement.

MPR

Meanwhile, mixed reactions greeted the KPU's plan to allocate one seat in the next People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) for a Chinese-Indonesian representative.

"The move is a major setback," said Jusuf Hamka, chairman of Partisipasi Pembaruan Indonesia or Parpindo, an organization which campaigns against racial discrimination.

Jusuf noted in a press statement on Saturday that allotting seats in the Assembly on the basis of race and color and labeling groups of people as "minorities" must be avoided.

"When the republic was established, there was no terms such as 'minority' or 'majority'. Indonesia is a unitary state," he said.

The elections commission is currently discussing the composition of interest group representatives in the Assembly.

Law No. 4/1999 on the composition of legislators stipulates that the 700 Assembly seats be divided as follows: 65 interest group representatives, 135 regional representatives and 500 seats for the House of Representatives, which includes 38 unelected seats for the Indonesian Military.

So far, the members of the elections commission have listed a number of criteria for people to qualify as interest group representatives, but have yet to decide on the exact composition of the representatives.

A temporary list issued by the commission includes nine categories: Ulemas and religious leaders, economic groups, social groups, isolated tribes, women, the disabled, scientists, artists and civil servants.

Some commission members recently proposed minority groups such as Chinese-Indonesians be included as interest group representatives. (edt/amd)