PSI eyes 18 House seats in debut

DENPASAR, Bali: The Indonesian Unity Party (PSI) has set a target of winning 18 seats at the House of Representatives in its election debut in April.

PSI secretary-general Mohammad Jumhur Hidayat said on Friday the seats were expected to come from 15 provinces which it claimed were its strongholds.

Jumhur identified the provinces expected to contribute House seats to the party as Bali, Aceh, Riau, South Sumatra, Lampung, Banten, West Java, Central Java, East Java, North Sulawesi, South Sulawesi, Papua, East Nusa Tenggara and West Nusa Tenggara.

He said the party would try hard to meet the target to enable it to contest the presidential election. The party has named former cabinet minister Siswono Yudohusodo its presidential candidate.

The Election Law states that a party has to fulfill the electoral threshold of 3 percent of House seats to enter a candidate in the presidential election. -- Antara