Small parties demand poll delay

JAMBI, Jambi: Following a recent legal revision allowing small parties to nominate candidates for regional elections, several parties in Jambi asked the local General Elections Commission (KPUD) to delay the elections.

The parties are seeking a delay to give them time to prepare for the elections, said the spokesman of the Prosperous Justice Party in Jambi, Syarifuddin Dwi Aprianto.

However, a member of the Jambi KPUD, Abdul Rasyid, said the elections could not be delayed because the law on regional autonomy demanded the Jambi governor be inaugurated in June.

Prior to the legal revision, only parties that had seats in regional councils were allowed to nominate candidates for regional elections. However, the Constitutional Court recently ruled that parties without seats in regional councils could nominate candidates if they formed a coalition of parties that won at least 15 percent of the total votes in the last general election. -- JP