T

he Democratic Party announced on Saturday its decision to reject the proposal from the opposition Red-and-White Coalition in the House of Representatives to amend the laws on local elections.

Democratic Party lawmaker Wahidin Halim, the deputy chairman of House Commission II overseeing home affairs, confirmed the country'€™s fourth-largest political party had reached a firm decision not to support the coalition'€™s proposal to amend the laws.

'€œAccording to the party'€™s internal regulations, the Democratic Party faction in the House has rejected the proposed amendments to the local elections laws, which are currently being discussed in House Commission II,'€ he said.

A few weeks ahead of the kickoff of registration for simultaneous elections for regional heads, the House leadership, which is dominated by members of the opposition coalition, has drawn up a plan to amend the 2015 Local Elections Law and the 2011 Political Parties Law.

The amendment of the two laws would pave the way for the Golkar Party and the United Development Party (PPP), two members of the opposition coalition, to participate in the local elections even if they fail to find a resolution to their ongoing leadership disputes.

Golkar and the PPP, the country'€™s second- and eighth-largest political parties respectively, could fail to nominate their candidates for local elections if the competing factions within the parties fail to secure final and binding court rulings by the registration period, July 26-28, set by the General Elections Commission (KPU).

An endorsement from the Democratic Party, the only '€œneutral'€ party among the 10 House factions, would have strengthened the opposition coalition'€™s move to secure the participation of Golkar and the PPP in the local elections.

Wahidin, however, said the party, which controls 61 of 560 House seats, had instructed its lawmakers to reject the proposed amendments.

'€œThere won'€™t be a single Democratic Party lawmaker in Commission II who will agree with or support the amendment,'€ he said.

The four political parties that make up the ruling Great Indonesia Coalition, including election winner the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), only managed to secure a total of 207 House seats, against the 292 seats garnered by the five parties in the Golkar-led opposition.

The government had earlier rejected the House'€™s plan to amend the laws.

In response, House Commission II called on the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) to carry out an audit of the KPU, arguing that such an audit was necessary in light of the Home Ministry'€™s report on the inflated budget plan for organizing the local elections.

Political analyst Said Salahuddin of People'€™s Synergy for Democracy in Indonesia (Sigma) said lawmakers must find a way to allow Golkar and PPP to join the regional elections.

'€œLawmakers, for example, should think about allowing Golkar and the PPP to nominate two candidates representing the competing factions within the parties as their situations could be regarded as special cases,'€ he said.  

'€œThis is acceptable because in the end people will cast their vote for the [regional head] candidates, not political parties, in local elections.'€