'Presidential candidates must declare wealth'

Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Factions in the House of Representatives (DPR) should insert an article in the presidential elections bill that will oblige candidates to disclose their assets as a requirement before contesting the presidential election next year.

The disclosure of the candidates' assets would help improve transparency and in turn reduce the possibility of corruption in the future, according to Center for Electoral Reform (Cetro) director Hadar N. Gumay.

"We want transparency from the very beginning. If something improper happens, the public will know it immediately," Hadar told The Jakarta Post here on Sunday.

The existing bill on the presidential and vice presidential elections, currently being debated in the House of Representatives, does not require candidates to declare their wealth.

Among the requirements set by the bill are for presidential candidates to have at least a senior high school certificate, never have been jailed for treason, be at least been 40 years of age, reside in Indonesia, and not be a suspect or have been convicted in a crime that carries a five-year jail term.

Two legislators, one from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) and one from the Golkar Party -- the largest and second largest parties respectively -- expressed their support for the proposed insertion of an article requiring candidates to declare their wealth.

Zaenal Arifin of the PDI Perjuangan disclosed that his faction would likely propose the requirement that presidential candidates declare their wealth.

"We will make this issue a proposal during the deliberation of the bill. State officials must declare their wealth. That is the rule," Zaenal told the Post.

Legislator Rully Chairul Azwar of Golkar said he would be happy if the obligation for a candidate to declare his wealth be incorporated into the bill.

Rully added that the stipulation would help the public scrutinize the initial assets of presidential candidates.

Responding to the rule that only political parties collecting at least 20 percent of the vote would be allowed to nominate presidential and vice presidential candidates, Zaenal and Rully said that the threshold should be lowered to allow more parties to nominate candidates.

Earlier, vice chairman of the National Mandate Party (PAN) Abdillah Toha said that the stipulation was undemocratic.

Meantime, the House special committee to deliberate the presidential election bill will only start its work on Monday.

The first item of business will be to hear a brief explanation of the bill from Minister of Home Affairs Hari Sabarno.

All nine factions are scheduled to present their comments on the bill, which is being submitted by the ministry.