Prominent politicians unsure of House seat

Prominent politicians unsure of House seat

JAKARTA (JP): As well as keeping voters in suspense, the
snail's pace of the General Elections Commission's (KPU) vote
count has also kept many big name politicians waiting to see if
they will get a seat in the House of Representatives (DPR).

But with the tallying already past the halfway mark, some
prominent politicians whose parties have not reached the 1
percent benchmark have had to bury their dreams of qualifying for
the House.

Even Golkar Party chairman Akbar Tandjung and his Justice
Party (PK) counterpart Nur Mahmudi Ismail have yet to secure
legislative seats, according to the official tally of votes as of
5:30 Wednesday evening. Golkar and PK had won 268,633 and 123,417
votes respectively, below the estimated 281,791 needed to win a
seat in the Jakarta constituency.

Crescent Star Party (PBB) chairman Yusril Ihza Mahendra faces
a more difficult path than these two. So does National Awakening
Party (PKB) chairman Matori Abdul Jalil, who is a candidate in
Tegal mayoralty in Central Java.

Representing Cianjur regency in West Java, Yusril needs about
297,000 more votes to himself become a legislator. Matori is
about 290,000 votes short of the expected quota to set by the KPU
for Central Java.

The minimum number of votes required for a House seat is
different in each province, and is determined by the KPU
according to the total number of valid votes cast and number of
regencies in the province.

Amien Rais, chairman of the National Mandate Party (PAN), and
United Development Party (PPP) chief Hamzah Haz, both
representing Jakarta, have booked tickets to Senayan, the Central
Jakarta greenbelt where the House is situated. Their Indonesian
Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) counterpart
Megawati Soekarnoputri has also qualified.

Leaders of tiny parties, meanwhile, will have to drop their
bid for House seats.

The likes of Edi Sudrajat of the Justice and Unity Party, Mien
Sugandhi of MKGR Party, both were cabinet members under former
president Soeharto, Budi Hardjono of the Indonesian Democratic
Party and tycoon Probosutedjo of the Indonesian Nationalist Party
Front Marhaenis will all likely miss the cut.

The list of leading also-ran figures looks to include Cacuk
Sudaryanto of the People's Sovereignty Party, who is a former
director of state telecommunications company PT Telkom, PBB
deputy chairman Ahmad Sumargono and Said Aqil Siradj of PKB.

Among those still waiting to know their fate are PKB
secretary-general Muhaimin Iskandar, who is a candidate in
Sidoarjo regency in East Java, running mate Khofifah Indar
Parawansa of Surabaya, PPP executive A.M. Saefuddin, who is also
Minister of Food and Horticulture, PAN deputy chairman A.M. Fatwa
and Golkar deputy chairman Slamet Effendy Yusuf. They all have a
chance of clinching House seats due to the considerable number of
votes already won by their parties.

The fates of Deputy House Speaker Abdul Gafur of Golkar,
controversial legislator Nurdin Halid, also from Golkar, PPP
secretary-general Alimarwan Hanan and his deputy Bachtiar
Chamsyah are hanging in the balance. As of Wednesday afternoon
the KPU had not released its vote tallies in the regencies where
those noted figures were running.

Less than a week before the KPU is due to announce the final
results of the polls, PDI Perjuangan remains on top in the
nationwide count. The party should secure the largest amount of
seats in the House, thanks to its impressive showing in provinces
on Java, where many legislative seats are concentrated.

Golkar was third behind PKB in number of votes, but second to
PDI Perjuangan in the expected number of seats won due to its
wide lead in the four provinces of Sulawesi and in some Sumatra
and Kalimantan provinces.

The tally of votes compiled by Antara from provincial election
committees nationwide showed that PDI Perjuangan led the pack
with 29,884,859 votes, more than 34 percent of the votes counted.
Golkar was second with 19,297,540, ahead of PKB which gained
12,188,102.

PDI Perjuangan dominated the polls in 12 provinces, while
Golkar reigned supreme in 13 provinces.

Coming next according to vote amounts are PPP, PAN, PBB and
PK. The remaining 40 parties won less than 1 percent of the vote.

The news agency claims to have counted 87,606,842 votes. An
estimated 117.8 million people registered for the June 7 polls.
(amd)