Yusril pessimistic of screening deadline
Yusril pessimistic of screening deadline
A'an Suryana, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
A minister expressed doubt Thursday that the Ministry of Justice
and Human Rights could finish screening the huge number of
political parties before Sept. 27, meaning either the general
elections schedule was reviewed or not all parties were verified.
"It looks impossible now for the Justice Ministry to complete
the screening in accordance with the deadline set in the general
election schedule because it still has 66 more new political
parties to verify," Justice and Human Rights Minister Yusril Ihza
Mahendra said here on Thursday.
Yusril was responding to the call by President Megawati
Soekarnoputri on Wednesday that the justice ministry and the
General Election Committee (KPU) stick to the election schedule.
He said his office could finish screening at the earliest on
Oct. 20, asking for another three weeks to complete the job.
Out of 112 new political parties registered with the ministry,
only 84 have met administrative requirements for verification. So
far, the ministry has okayed 18 parties, including the major
parties, while the remaining 66 are still being screened.
Yusril said the KPU looked unwilling to extend the screening
period until Oct. 20, and if the current tight schedule was
maintained, a part of the remaining 66 parties could not be
examined.
However, he conceded that it was difficult for the KPU to
accept the proposed extension as the registration of political
parties would close on Oct. 9.
"If the KPU still rejects to extend the Oct. 9 deadline, it
will not be a disaster because many parties will not be verified
and will not be allowed to contend the elections," he said.
Separately, KPU Chairman Nazaruddin Syamsuddin said it was
impossible for the KPU to allow the extension of the screening
period because it would give less time to verify parties
contending the general election scheduled for April 5.
"To the KPU, it is difficult to extend the Oct. 9 deadline to
complete the parties' verification, because our schedule is
already tight. However, we will firstly listen to the Justice
Ministry's argument before we make a decision on that matter," he
said, adding that the KPU would have enough time to verify a
score of parties if the screening period was extended.
He noted that according to the current schedule, the KPU was
supposed to finish verifying political parties on Dec. 2.
The general election law stipulates that all political
parties, including major and old ones, have to undergo two rounds
of verification to ensure their existence and preparations to
contend the elections.
Yusril said he would not take account for any blame and
protest from any sides, including new political parties, if the
parties could not contend the elections.
"Don't blame us if the unverified parties are finally not
allowed to exercise their rights to contend the elections because
we have tried to do the best and the KPU should extend the
deadline," said Yusril.
The KPU is scheduled to announce the political parties that
are eligible to contest the elections on Dec. 2.