H

ome Minister Tjahjo Kumolo has spoken out against the House of Representatives'€™ plan to revise the 2015 Local Elections Law and the 2015 Regional Administration Law, warning that the move could trigger new political battles.

The House recently announced that it would amend the two laws in order to allow the Golkar Party and the United Development Party (PPP) to participate in the elections set to take place concurrently in early December.

Without the amendments, the General Elections Commission (KPU) cannot accept the registrations of Golkar and PPP candidates for the 269 elections as both parties are riven by internal conflict, unless the two parties resolve their internal divisions peacefully or obtain a final and binding verdict before registration closes.

Tjahjo said that the amendment process could distract relevant institutions from focusing on preparations for the local and regional elections taking place throughout the country.

'€œThese institutions could lose their focus, especially the KPU, particularly ahead of the simultaneous local elections [in late 2015],'€ Antara news agency quoted Tjahjo as saying in Semarang, Central Java, on Wednesday.

The House announced that it intended to amend the two laws after learning that the KPU had issued a regulation banning parties split by internal conflicts from registering candidates for regional head positions.

Political factions at the House previously tried to annul the KPU regulation by amending the two laws that empower the KPU and the Election Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu) to uphold their independence in organizing elections.

A number of legislators have proposed an immediate review of the two laws to allow political parties experiencing internal conflict to contest the elections.

The ruling Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), however, has indicated it will oppose any plan by the House to amend the two laws.

'€œWe believe that revision of laws relating to people'€™s lives is more urgent,'€ PDI-P secretary-general Hasto Kristiyanto said on Tuesday.

'€œWe don'€™t want to revise election-related laws over and over again. As such, we will instruct our faction [at the House] to focus more on more popular regulations,'€ Hasto said.

Vice President Jusuf Kalla has also spoken against the planned amendment.

'€œWe don'€™t need to amend the law. With the House in recess, it would be difficult,'€ Kalla said earlier this week.

An official from the Agung Laksono camp in the Golkar Party said that the House would make a mistake by amending the laws.

'€œThis is a misguided plan. We reject the plan because we see no relevance in the proposal,'€ said spokesman of the Agung Laksono camp Leo Nababan.

During a hearing between the KPU and the House on Monday, the House managed to convince the KPU to adopt a proposal that would allow Golkar and the PPP to submit their latest court rulings on their leadership battles in order to enable them to register candidates to contest the 269 elections.