PDI-P barred from contesting poll in East Kalimantan

PDI-P barred from contesting poll in East Kalimantan

Rusman and Apriadi Gunawan
The Jakarta Post
Samarinda/Medan

The East Kalimantan General Elections Commission (KPUD) ruled on
Wednesday that the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-
P) could not run for seats in the provincial council during the
upcoming elections.

The decision was taken after executives of the PDI-P's East
Kalimantan chapter failed to beat a midnight Tuesday deadline to
file a final and valid list of the party's legislative
candidates.

The Tuesday deadline was also imposed on other political
parties. "The deadline passed and it cannot be extended. The
party is not allowed to run for seats in the upcoming elections,"
said Noersyamsu Agung, the chairman of the KPUD.

He said originally there were no problems with the list of
legislative candidates submitted to the KPUD by the party. The
list was signed by Imam Munjiat, the chairman of the party's East
Kalimantan chapter, and its secretary-general Soekardi Jarwo
Putro.

But, several days ago, another list of legislative candidates
signed by the two East Kalimantan PDI-P leaders was submitted to
the KPUD. The names of the candidates on this second list were
different from the names on the first list.

Soekardi claims that the second list was submitted without his
knowledge. "I never signed a second list of legislative
candidates."

Noersyamsu said the KPUD gave the party a Tuesday midnight
deadline to resolve the differences, but none of the party
leaders turned up.

"The KPU has no right to interfere in the internal matters of
a party. The internal conflicts of a party must be settled by
themselves," he said.

The KPUD invited the PDI-P executives to a meeting on
Wednesday, but only Soekardi appeared. Imam Munjiat was absent
from the meeting.

"I can't comment. This is an internal matter of the party,"
said Soekardi.

Speaking later, Imam Munjiat said the party had yet to
formulate a response to the KPUD's decision. He said there would
be a meeting that would be attended by all of the party chapter
executives to discuss the decision.

Asked about the alleged manipulation of the second list of
legislative candidates, Imam said he was prepared to face in
court anyone who claimed something was amiss with the list of
legislative candidates.

Separately in Medan, a panel of judges at the Medan District
Court adjourned on Wednesday the trial of a lawsuit against the
chairwoman of the PDI-P, Megawati Soekarnoputri.

The lawsuit began after a number of PDI-P members objected to
a decision by Megawati last year to validate the leadership of
the party's executive board in Medan mayoralty, chaired by Usaha
Ginting.

They claimed the decision was unlawful because a plenary
meeting held by the PDI-P's Medan mayoralty branch last April 12
appointed Doni Arsal Gultom as the chairman of the party's Medan
branch. The party members who filed the lawsuit refused to
acknowledge the leadership of Usaha Ginting.