Political parties law needs publicity

Political parties law needs publicity

JAKARTA: The Ministry of Justice and Human Rights needs to better publicize Law No. 31/2002 on political parties among all those intending to contest the 2004 polls.

The former chairman of the House of Representatives' special committee on the political parties bill, Yahya Zaini, said on Saturday that this was urgent so as to provide the parties with comprehensive rules of the game for the upcoming general election.

Given that the number of parties registering themselves with the ministry had already reached 250, Yahya said it would take quite a long time for the General Elections Commission (KPU) to decide which parties would be eligible to participate.

Yahya said that such publicity would help political parties prepare themselves for the selection process, thus easing the burden on the KPU.

The new law stipulates that parties involved in an internal dispute must settle the conflict in court within 90 days and that parties with identical symbols will be disqualified from participating in the election. Many of the registered parties are affected by these two issues.

Due to the strict requirements, Yahya predicted that only between 25 and 50 parties would be eligible to contest the general election next year. -- Antara