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