Puan says Election Bill still being discussed with party leaders

Jakarta (ANTARA) - House of Representatives Speaker Puan Maharani stated that the Draft Law on Amendments to Law Number 7 of 2017 concerning General Elections is still being discussed with political party leaders.

“At present, we are still discussing it with the political party chairmen,” Puan said when met at the parliamentary complex in Senayan, Jakarta, on Thursday.

According to her, the most important aspect in the process of revising this crucial law is to ensure that the elections proceed in accordance with the mandate of the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia and benefit all parties.

“The most important thing is how, in that process, the elections can be conducted honestly, fairly, efficiently, and of course bring good benefits to the nation and state,” Puan said.

Previously, Member of Commission II of the House of Representatives Ahmad Doli Kurnia stated that the initial meeting to discuss the Election Bill was postponed for an undetermined time.

According to the schedule, Commission II of the House of Representatives was supposed to hold the meeting on Tuesday (14/4) to hear a presentation from the House of Representatives Expert Staff (BKD).

“That afternoon [there should have been] an internal meeting with the BKD, but it was suddenly cancelled and postponed, and until now we still don’t know why,” Doli said at the parliamentary complex in Jakarta on Wednesday (15/4).

Although postponed, Doli admitted to having requested from the BKD the points that were planned to be presented.

According to him, the points to be presented include an introduction, analysis, mapping points to respond to the Constitutional Court (MK) decision, and various inputs from the public regarding the election system.

“So, it hasn’t reached the academic paper draft, let alone the bill draft,” he said.

He stated that political party leaders and House of Representatives leaders need to immediately address the Election Bill seriously because the longer the discussion is delayed, the closer the election stages will be.

“If we look at the current law, by August or September this year, the government should have formed the election organiser selection team (timsel),” he said.