Parties told to meet tough terms

Berni K. Moestafa and Debbie A. Lubies, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Several new political parties may have to drop their bid to contest in the 2004 general election as the government now requires them to reapply under tougher registration criteria with the new law on political party about to take effect.

"If the parties don't meet the new criteria we'll drop them," said R. H. Tjapah, spokesman at the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights on Friday.

So far 225 political parties are registered with the ministry and more are likely to follow. But all of them, Tjapah said, had applied based on the 1999 law on political parties.

"We'll tell them to renew their registration under the new law, as we must follow changes in the regulation," he said.

The House of Representatives (DPR) endorsed the new law on political parties last month. President Megawati Soekarnoputri has yet to sign it into law, but Tjapah said it would become effective by the end of this month.

Under the old law, still in effect, anyone wishing to form a party needs to rally 50 members and register the would-be party at a notary's office.

The justice ministry's office then verifies that the parties have fulfilled the requirements and issues its approval.

The new law does not require would-be parties to have 50 members but requires them to have chapters across the country first before applying. Would-be parties must set up branch offices in at least half of Indonesia's 31 provinces where they must have branches in at least half of the districts in every regency or mayoralty.

It also requires that a party has a fixed office that does not change address, as might be the case with a party whose founders are not serious.

Tjapah said that parties had until the registration cut-off date to adjust to the new criteria. But the date remains undecided as it will depend on what month the 2004 general election is held in.

"We will have to see how much time KPU needs to prepare for the election," he said referring to the General Elections Commission which is tasked with organizing the ballot.

Verifying whether parties had met the requirements would also require time, and Tjapah added that his office did not have the manpower to do so.

"We will probably work with other government institutions to do the field work," he explained but said that the registration itself may start as soon as January 2003.

Labor activist Muchtar Pakpahan of the Social Democrat Labor Party said his party was ready to meet the tighter registration criteria.

"We have chapters down to district levels in 27 provinces," he told The Jakarta Post, adding he expected his party to refile its application immediately once the justice ministry was ready.

On the party's chances in the 2004 election, he said he was sure of securing at least 3 percent of the entire vote. This might be enough to form a faction at the House.

Political analysts have said the more stringent requirement would almost certainly force several political newcomers to cancel or postpone their bids to join the general elections.

Several analysts predicted that by the time the 2004 election starts, only 10 political parties would be eligible to contest in it.

Forty-eight parties participated in the 1999 general election. Of them, 22 are represented at the House, with many however occupying one seat only and others having had to merge to form a faction.

Also the new registration criteria applies only for the official recognition of a party. To contest in an election, parties will also have to pass the criteria set forth under the general election law. The election bill is being discussed at the House.

According to the draft, a party must have branches in at least two-thirds of all the provinces, and in two-thirds of the number of regencies or cities in one province.

In each of their branches, election participants must also have at least 1,000 members.