Party screening to resume

Party screening to resume

JAKARTA: The Ministry of Justice and Human Rights will soon
conduct the second screening for political parties to determine
whether or not they meet the stipulated requirements.

Ramly Hutabarat, the ministry's director of state
administrative affairs, said on Wednesday that nine political
parties had so far registered for screening and invited others to
register by July 4 at the latest if they wanted to join the
second screening.

Only four parties met the requirements in the first round of
screening.

"The screening will take place from July 15 to July 30," Ramly
said.

Nearly 240 parties have registered with the ministry but they
have to reregister in order to determined whether or not they
meet requirements as political parties.

Certification is mandatory for political parties before they
undergo another round of verification by the General Elections
Commission (KPU) to determine whether or not a political party is
eligible to contest in 2004 elections.

The screening will last until the end of September. --JP