Parties have no objections to KPU's candidate list

Parties have no objections to KPU's candidate list

A. Junaidi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

All 24 political parties have approved the lists of their
legislative candidates for the election to the House of
Representatives, finally marking an end to the selection process,
which began in December of last year.

There will be 7,756 candidates vying for 550 House seats in
the general election, which is scheduled for April 5.

The General Election Commission (KPU) screened 8,841
candidates proposed by the parties on Dec. 29.

Leaders of the parties signed the lists at the Hotel Indonesia
in Central Jakarta, with chairman of the Social Democratic Labor
Party (PBSD) Muchtar Pakpahan arriving at the last minute.

Muchtar had threatened to boycott the signing after his name
was excluded from the party's list of legislative candidates due
to the absence of a copy of his identity card.

"We accept and sign the list in order to facilitate the
election process. Some of our candidates have been declared
ineligible, although we have met all the requirements. We are
going to sue the KPU in court over this," Muchtar said.

A KPU lawyer, Deni Kailimang, said the commission was ready to
face any lawsuits filed by parties that were disappointed with
the lists.

"In so far as the KPU makes its decisions based on the law, we
are ready to face any lawsuits. Let's meet in the courtroom,"
Deni told reporters on the sidelines of the meeting.

Besides Deni, the KPU has also appointed noted lawyer Amir
Syamsuddin to represent the commission should any legal problems
arise.

One parties, the National Awakening Party (PKB), which lost
100 candidates from its original list of 543 candidates, said it
would accept the KPU's decisions.

"Most of the candidates were reluctant to meet the
requirements as they were in the lower part of the list and would
not be elected in the election," PKB chairman Alwi Shihab told
reporters.

Alwi said the candidates refused to such requirements as
furnishing medical certificates and certificates of good conduct
from the court as they knew they had no hope of being elected.

Meanwhile, almost all prominent party figures were declared
eligible to run in the election, including Alwi, National Mandate
Party (PAN) chairman Amien Rais, and National Bull Independence
Party (PNBK) chairman Eros Djarot.

"Those who failed are people from the regions. Candidates from
the party's central board passed the selection," PAN's general
secretary Hatta Radjasa, who is also minister for research and
technology, told reporters.

In a related development, the Indonesian Democratic Party of
Struggle (PDI-P) deputy secretary Pramono Anung admitted that
there was an internal conflict among the executives of the
party's East Kalimantan chapter.

"We will fix it," Pramono told reporters.

The KPU's East Kalimantan branch announced on Wednesday that
the party was barred from participating in the election as two
different lists of candidates for the province's legislative
council had been submitted to the commission.

Meanwhile, Election Supervisory Committee member Santoso
supported the KPU East Kalimantan branch's decision to exclude
the PDI-P.

"It's correct. They've followed the procedures," Santoso told
reporters.