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.

Jakarta Post

46 political parties meet deadline to register for 2014 elections

Registration for the 2014 election has officially closed, with 46 parties hoping to pass the verification process

The Jakarta Post
Jakarta
Sat, September 8, 2012

Share This Article

Change Size

46 political parties meet deadline to register for 2014 elections

R

egistration for the 2014 election has officially closed, with 46 parties hoping to pass the verification process.

Their documents will be verified by the General Elections Commission (KPU), which will also make field checks to ensure that the parties are eligible to contest the elections.

Political parties registered include established organizations, such as the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), the Golkar Party, the United Development Party (PPP) and the ruling Democratic Party. Lesser known parties also registered, such as the Patriot Party and the National Front Party (Barnas).

The number of parties registered was much lower than those registered to contest the 2009 election. Even though only 38 parties eventually qualified for the 2009 poll, more than 60 parties had registered.

According to KPU commissioner Sigit Pamungkas, the decline in numbers was due to the tighter regulations set out in the Election Law.

“In 2009, you only had to have executive boards in 75 percent of the country’s provinces. Now the rules say that a party has to have boards in 100 percent of them,” Sigit told The Jakarta Post in Jakarta on Friday.

He added that stricter laws made it harder for parties to cheat voters.

“It used to be that there was no clear definition on permanent addresses for a party’s central and regional headquarters. Certain parties would use that loophole to merely rent offices — which are expensive — during the KPU’s verification period. Then they would abandon the office once the inspections were over,” Sigit said

Fellow KPU commissioner Arief Budiman said his office would make use of the amended law to ensure that all parties running in 2014 were properly qualified.

Now that the Aug. 10-Sept. 7 registration period is over, the KPU has until Sept. 29 to verify whether the registered parties have all the necessary documents required under Election Law No. 8/2012.

The documents include a certificate proving that a party’s membership is at least 30 percent female.

“The parties have to fulfill the requirements 100 percent. A party can be disqualified, even if it is lacking in only one requirement,” Arief said.

Once the KPU makes sure that registered parties have handed in all the necessary documents, its next step will be a long and meticulous verification process that will last until the end of December.

Part of this verification process involves KPU members physically visiting regions to ensure that the facts on the ground match the claims that parties wrote on their registration papers.

Up until a recent Constitutional Court ruling on Aug. 29, Law 8/2012 stipulated that only new parties and those without legislative seats had to go through this extended verification process. Parties that had seats only had to undergo a partial review.

The court’s decision made it so that all parties are subjected to the same treatment.

“Some of the more established parties have indeed complained about this new decision. They see it as unnecessarily adding to their workload,” Sigit said. “But it has to be done in the name of transparency and accountability.”

Separately on Friday, the New Indonesia National Sovereignty Party (PKBIB) was among the political parties to register at the last moment.

PKBIB chairwoman Zannuba “Yenny” Wahid arrived at the KPU office with dozens of supporters to register for the 2014 election.

The daughter of the late former president Abdurrahman Wahid, Yenny, repeatedly said her party would be a political vehicle for any competent figure to run for the presidency. (png)

{

Your Opinion Matters

Share your experiences, suggestions, and any issues you've encountered on The Jakarta Post. We're here to listen.

Enter at least 30 characters
0 / 30

Thank You

Thank you for sharing your thoughts. We appreciate your feedback.