Three qualify for supervisory committee

Arya Abhiseka, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The General Elections Commission (KPU) has been forced to add nine new names to compete for the remaining three posts at the general election supervisory committee after only three out of 22 candidates qualified.

KPU deputy chairman Ramlan Surbakti said on Monday the commission would announce within the coming weeks the names of all nine new candidates, which would consist of six public figures and three academicians.

The KPU will look for prominent figures who are competent and committed to the general election process to be in the supervisory committee.

"There are so many qualified and available people out there who are worthy to sit on the committee, but they seem to be reluctant to register for the job.

"Therefore we decided to approach possible candidates as we are concerned about the quality of the supervisory committee members," said Ramlan.

The nine candidates will then be introduced for public scrutiny before going through a fit and proper test to be conducted by all nine members of the KPU.

Based on the fit and proper test on 22 selected candidates on Thursday, only Topo Santoso, Rozy Munir and Didik Supriyanto were deemed eligible.

The 22 names were chosen out of 517 people who voluntarily registered for the supervisory committee.

However, criticism arose after most of the nominees were considered lacking in quality and commitment to fill the election supervisory duties.

After much pressure, the KPU had signaled last week that it would consider adding more nominees should the candidates be deemed unsuitable.

The supervisory committee is an independent body comprising nine members that will monitor the entire process of the general election including the ballot counting.

The KPU expects the National Police to appoint two members, while the Attorney General's Office will appoint one member to sit on the committee.

Indonesia will witness the country's first ever direct election involving some 130 million voters when the legislative election falls on April 5, 2004 followed by the presidential election to be held between June and August.