PDI-P candidates permitted to contest East Kalimantan election

Rusman and A. Junaidi, The Jakarta Post, Samarinda/Jakarta

The General Elections Commission (KPU) has agreed to allow candidates from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI- P) to contest the East Kalimantan provincial legislative election in April, to the disappointment of rival parties.

Leaders of 22 political parties in the province held an emergency meeting on Sunday with the chairman of the provincial elections commission (KPUD) to question the latter's decision to accept KPU's intervention.

KPU member Hamid Awaluddin said the commission would accept the list of PDI-P candidates submitted initially. He said the list was duly signed by the chairman and secretary of the local chapter as required, although the latter denied ever signing it.

"The secretary often talks to newspapers and says that he never signed the initial list, but he has, and he has never officially revoked the candidates," Hamid said.

The East Kalimantan General Election Commission (KPUD) had barred the PDI-P from entering the electoral race for the provincial legislature, as it had failed to submit a valid list of legislative candidates due to an internal rift.

Last Thursday, the local KPU announced that PDI-P candidates were banned from contesting the election since the party's secretary had not approved the candidacy list.

The decision angered supporters of the ruling party, who threatened to burn down the office of the East Kalimantan KPUD if the it did not reverse the decision.

In the 1999 presidential election, PDI-P won 13 of 45 seats in the provincial legislature.

Besides meeting with provincial KPU members, the KPU also held a meeting on Friday with the PDI-P's central board, including secretary-general Pramono Anung, former environmental minister Sony Keraf and lawyer Trimedya Pandjaitan.

Trimedya said the central board had discussed many issues, including the problem faced by its East Kalimantan chapter.

Hamid denied on Saturday that the decision was reversed because of pressure from the party's central board.

"There is no pressure from Megawati. We just examined the list against legal facts," said Hamid, a legal expert from state-owned Hasanuddin University in Makassar, South Sulawesi.

Incumbent President Megawati Soekarnoputri chairs the party, and has been nominated for the country's first ever direct presidential election on July 5.

The political parties' leaders in East Kalimantan underlined that KPUD had done everything right according to the law in barring the PDI-P from the upcoming election for failing to submit valid legislative candidates.

"We are against the change to the policy as it has set a precedent for KPU's intervention in KPUD's internal affairs," local Golkar Party leader Syaukani said after the meeting on Sunday.

The party leaders, however, were undecided on what action they would take to challenge the KPUD's decision.

During the meeting, leader of East Kalimantan's KPUD Noersyamsu Agung said he would leave the matter with the KPU in accordance with organizational hierarchy.

"KPU holds the highest authority in the organization of elections," Noersyamsu told political party leaders.

Article 9 paragraph 3B of the KPU decree on the procedure of nomination of legislative candidates says that candidates should be nominated by leaders of political parties. However, it does not specify what level of leadership it means.