PKB mulls suing KPU over health requirement

PKB mulls suing KPU over health requirement

A. Junaidi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The National Awakening Party (PKB) is considering taking legal
action against the General Elections Commission (KPU) should the
commission place a sight requirement on presidential and vice
presidential candidates.

"We cannot comment further as we have not seen it (the health
requirements for presidential and vice presidential candidates).
We will watch and study any requirement before taking legal
measures," PKB leader Alwi Shihab said on Wednesday.

The PKB, which has so far garnered over 12 percent of the vote
in the provisional tally of the April 5 legislative election, has
said that it will nominate former president Abdurrahman "Gus Dur"
Wahid for the country's first ever direct presidential election
on July 5.

Gus Dur, who was impeached in July 2001, is nearly blind,
which would prevent him from meeting the KPU's health
requirements for presidential and vice presidential candidates.

Alwi said that requiring candidates to have at least 50
percent of their sight, as has been proposed, would violate Law
No. 23/2003 on presidential elections.

He stressed that the House of Representatives did not raise
concerns over Gus Dur's health last year when they endorsed the
law, which requires only that presidential and vice presidential
candidates by physically and mentally sound.

The PKB leader also raised the possibility of violations
should the KPU and the Indonesian Medical Doctors Association
(IDI) have a different interpretation of the law.

"It would be a controversial decision if they applied the
(sight) requirement," he said, adding that the PKB would still
nominate Gus Dur as its candidate in the upcoming presidential
election.

The KPU and the IDI will sign a memorandum of understanding on
Thursday on health examinations for presidential and vice
presidential candidates. The commission will also approve the
health requirements for presidential and vice presidential
candidates drafted by the medical association.

Many observers believe the poor health of Gus Dur, who has
suffered two mild strokes, was one of the main reason his almost
two-year presidency was largely ineffectual.

Alwi said that should Gus Dur be prevented from contesting the
presidential election because of his health, the party would give
him the authority to select his replacement candidate.