Six parties exempt from verification
Arya Abhiseka, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The General Election Commission (KPU) announced on Wednesday that it would exempt the six largest parties from the verification process in a bid to maintain its commitment in holding the general election ahead of time.
"This decision is greatly influenced by our intention to meet the schedule of holding the general election on April 5, 2004," said Ramlan Surbakti, deputy chairman of the KPU.
He explained that once the six major parties passed the verification process at the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights, they would be ruled eligible by the KPU to contest the next election, contrary to a previous plan for the KPU to verify every single party contesting in the election.
"Again, the six major parties will still have to go through the verification process at the Ministry of Justice. After they pass, we will give them a 'passport' to contest the next election," he said.
The six major parties are the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan), the Golkar Party, the United Development Party (PPP), the National Awakening Party (PKB), the National Mandate Party (PAN) and the Crescent Star Party (PBB). They are the only ones that met the 2 percent national electoral threshold in the 1999 elections and according to the newly endorsed election bill, they automatically qualify for the 2004 election.
KPU had earlier set a date for the general election on April 5 to allow for a new president to be inaugurated before October 2004, when president Megawati Soekarnoputri's term officially ends.
The party verification process conducted by the KPU will start in October at the earliest when the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights finishes its verification.
The ministry will shortlist only parties which have chapters in at least half of the country's 30 provinces and branches in at least half of the country's 410 regencies and municipalities.
Under KPU verification a party which fails to prove it has chapters in at least two-thirds of the country's provinces and two-thirds of the country's regencies and recruited at least 1 per 1,000 population in each regency will miss the cut.
There has been skepticism that the ministry and the KPU will finish the verification process before 2004, leaving just a short period of time for the rest of the election preparation.
KPU had recently urged the justice ministry to speed up the verification process. In his response, the Minister of Justice and Human Rights Yusril Ihza Mahendra said the KPU had no authority to rush the ministry on the grounds that the law does not stipulate any deadline.
Meanwhile, Agnita Singadikane, a spokesperson for PDI Perjuangan, warmly welcomed KPU's decision, saying that her party deserved the exemption as it had clearly reached the 2 percent electoral threshold.
"At the moment our party is taking time to prepare for the election, but we will be ready very soon," she said.
Marzuki Ahmad of the Golkar Party said the exemption would save much time for the parties and the election organizers.
"Golkar fully supports the decision and will register with the ministry as soon as possible," he said.