P

arties are grumbling while scrambling to submit their legislative candidate lists to the General Elections Commission (KPU). Parties have from today until April 22 to submit candidate lists for the elections on April 9, 2014.

Understandably, parties are complaining about the KPU’s last minute changes in candidacy requirements. The commission only recently confirmed the rule on the female candidate quota, followed by the cancellation of its ban against candidates for local posts joining the race for national legislative seats.

“We had to change quickly to accommodate that,” Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) spokesperson Mardani Ali Sera said last week. The Crescent Star Party (PBB) and the Indonesian Justice and Unity Party (PKPI) only received confirmation of their eligibility late last month.

The Democratic Party, the most successful in the last election, only finished verifying applicants’ documents on Monday. Suaidi Marasabessy, head of its candidate selection team, said the KPU’s late release of the 2014 application forms held back their recruitment process, which started on March 6. They have around 1,070 prospective candidates, he said.

Most of the Democratic Party’s incumbents plan to run again. Suaidi said that 136 of the 148 party legislators have submitted applications to the selection team. Mardani of the PKS confirmed that most of their legislators are reentering the race too.

Among those applying to run for a different party is former PKS legislator M. Misbakhun, who has applied to run for the Golkar party.