TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Popular Reads
Top Results
No results found. Please check your search term and try again
Can't find what you're looking for?
View all search results
Popular Reads
Top Results
No results found. Please check your search term and try again
Can't find what you're looking for?
View all search resultsGovt disappointed with civil groups for boycotting Bali Democracy Forum
Presidential spokesman Julian A Pasha has expressed the governmentâs disappointment with several civil society organizations (CSOs) that have decided to boycott the annual inter-governmental Bali Democracy Forum (BDF) in protest at the passage of the Regional Elections (Pilkada) Law that abolished direct local elections
Change text size
Gift Premium Articles
to Anyone
Share the best of The Jakarta Post with friends, family, or colleagues. As a subscriber, you can gift 3 to 5 articles each month that anyone can read—no subscription needed!
P
residential spokesman Julian A Pasha has expressed the government's disappointment with several civil society organizations (CSOs) that have decided to boycott the annual inter-governmental Bali Democracy Forum (BDF) in protest at the passage of the Regional Elections (Pilkada) Law that abolished direct local elections.
CSOs that have boycotted the BDF include several democracy and policy advocacy groups, as well as the Civil Society Alliance for Democracy (Yappika), the Center for Indonesian Legal and Policy Studies (PSHKI), the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) and corruption watchdog Transparency International Indonesia (TTI).
"We want to listen to their points of view regarding the dynamic of our democracy. So we're disappointed they're refusing to attend the BDF," Julian said on Wednesday in Bali as quoted by kompas.com.
He insisted that the government did in fact support direct elections for regional heads, and that President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono had to that end issued a government regulation in lieu of law (Perppu) to reinstate direct local elections in response to a nationwide outcry.
PSHKI official Bivitri Susanti, meanwhile, said that she suspected Yudhoyono had an ulterior motive for inviting the groups, adding that the event was intended to be the President's last hurrah.
Yappika director Fransisca Fitri, moreover, said that the country's democracy had stalled under Yudhoyono.
The BDF, which was initiated by Yudhoyono in 2008, will host delegations from 81 countries. This year's event, held from Oct. 10 to 11 in Nusa Dua, will be the last for Yudhoyono, who is set to be replaced by president-elect Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo on Oct. 20. (alz)
