KPUD: Independent can't run in upcoming election

Dicky Christanto ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Denpasar   |  Mon, 04/07/2008 11:13 AM  |  Bali

The chairman of the General Election Commission's Bali chapter (KPUD) said Saturday it would be impossible for any independent candidate to join the upcoming Bali gubernatorial election.

"The directorate general of regional autonomy has drafted an official letter to Bali's governor (notifying him) it will not possible for an independent candidate to participate in the 2008 gubernatorial election because such participation would delay the election process, which has already been started today," Anak Agung Gede Oka Wisnumurti said.

He said the letter was the government's formal response to a request made earlier by the members of the Coalition of Indonesian Independent Candidates. They asked the KPUD to temporarily postpone the election process until the government revised the law on local administrations, thus opening the door for the participation of independent candidates.

The coalition's members visited the KPUD office Thursday and later engaged in a heated debate with officials.

"It is merely because of some technical difficulties we have ... and not because we intend to block any candidacy. The government will give them a place once the supporting regulations are ready," he told The Jakarta Post.

However, he didn't disclose when the letter would be sent to the governor.

On Saturday, the KPUD began candidate registration, the first stage in the election process.

Spokesman of the Coalition of Indonesian Independent Candidates Lalu Ranggalawe said his coalition would continue asking for the postponement until the government agreed to grant independent candidates a chance to join the political race.

"We will keep asking for what has become our political right," he said.

Established in Denpasar this Wednesday, the coalition was made up of figures such as I Wayan Wita, I Gusti Ngurah Supartha, Lalu Ranggalawe and Bambang Mae.

So far, mainstream political powers on the island have named two sets of candidates to participate in the election. The island's largest political party, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), nominated former head of the National Anti-Narcotic Body (BNN) Comr. Gen. Made Mangku Pastika and Denpasar Mayor A.A. Ngr Puspayoga as its governor and vice governor candidates.

The island's second-largest party, Golkar, selected former two-time Gianyar regent Cokorda Budi Suryawan and former deputy chief of the Bali Police, Suweta.

Prior to these formal endorsements, several prominent figures had expressed their intentions to run.

The figures included former rector of Udayana University, I Wayan Wita, member of the country's Regional Representatives Council (DPD), I Wayan Sudirtha, retired Army general SN Suwisma and the regent of Jembrana, Winasa.

After the PDI-P's decision to nominate Made Mangku Pastika, Winasa resigned from his post as the head of the Jembrana chapter of the PDI-P and withdrew from the party's membership. He is currently lobbying several small parties to secure his candidacy.

So far only I Wayan Sudirtha has expressed publicly his intention of running as an independent candidate.

However, a source close to I Wayan Wita said Wita was ready to run as an independent candidate provided the government had issued a regulation. Wita is the chairman of the largest clan-based organization in Bali.

"Ida Ayu Agung Mas, another member of the DPD, is also seeking a way to run as an independent candidate," the source said.

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