With two major political parties currently embroiled in legal battles over leadership issues and local election organizers running on shoestring budgets, the General Elections Commission (KPU) officially kickstarted the 2015 concurrent regional elections on Friday.

In the ceremony, the central KPU handed over the latest population data for the district levels (DAK2) to the Regional General Elections Commission (KPUD).

'€œThis year'€™s DAK2 is different from previous years. Now, the data is sorted based on names and addresses. Earlier, the data came from estimates and censuses,'€ KPU chairman Husni Kamil Manik said.

The KPU only got the data from the Home Ministry early on Friday.

With the ceremony, political parties are now able to start registering themselves to join the regional elections, which are expected to take place in 269 regions simultaneously in December.

However, questions remain over whether the Golkar Party and the United Development Party (PPP) will be able to participate in the elections, as the two parties are now torn by rifts that have split each party into two factions.

KPU commissioner Ida Budhiati said that the commission had drafted a regulation which that prevent political parties experiencing legal uncertainty from participating in the elections.

'€œDuring last week'€™s meeting with the House of Representatives, we presented a scenario in which a political party is undergoing a trial at the state administrative court and the court freezes the Law and Human Rights Ministry'€™s decree [on the party'€™s leadership]; then we said in our regulation that the party'€™s participation in the poll could not be allowed,'€ she said on Thursday.

Ida added that the KPU would only accept a party with a singular and legal leadership and, thus, the rival factions within Golkar and the PPP would have to reconcile their differences.

Home Minister Tjahjo Kumolo, meanwhile, said that the ministry and the KPU had agreed not to meddle in the conflicts.

'€œI am pretty optimistic that the Golkar Party and the PPP will be able to resolve their problems soon so that they can take part in the political process in the regions, especially so they can decide on who they will be nominating,'€ Tjahjo said on Friday.

In spite of the official launch of the regional election process, a number of KPUDs are currently dealing with budget problems.

According to data from the Election Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu), at least 127 of the 183 KPUDs were experiencing budget problems as of March this year.

Out of the 127 problematic regions, 78 had already secured budgets for the elections, although they were not sufficient, while 49 had not yet been given guarantees over the disbursement of their budgets.

The central KPU refused to disclose the number of regions with budget problems.

Meanwhile, data from the Association for Elections and Democracy (Perludem) shows that 114 regions have problems with their budgets '€” 68 of them had initially expected to hold regional elections in 2017 only to find out later that they have to hold them in 2015 instead.

The government and the House of Representatives are still at loggerheads over the solution to the budget woes, with the former suggesting any budget shortfall should be met from extra funds, such as emergency funds, in the local budgets (APBD).

House Commission II overseeing governance and regional autonomy, meanwhile, rejected the idea, saying that it would be prone to corruption.

The KPU has been frustrated with the rejection.

'€œIf the budget is not available, then what? Do we and the Bawaslu, as election organizers, have to pitch in money?'€ Husni asked during the meeting with the House on Thursday.

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