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Political parties advised not to nominate ex-convicts
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General Election Commission (KPU) member Hadar Nafis Gumay shows example forms for electoral candidacy, a candidate's declaration and public backing for independent candidates at the KPU headquarters in Jakarta on April 20. (Antara/Reno Esnir)
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senior analyst has warned political parties against nominating former convicts as candidates in a host of regional elections to be held simultaneously on Feb. 15, 2017, arguing such candidates could still be embroiled in criminal cases once elected.
“Political parties must listen to the public voice on this matter. They must be wise in nominating candidates for regional posts,” Siti Zuhro, a researcher with the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), said.
She was commenting on the new General Election Commission Regulation (PKPU), which allows probation convicts to run for regional office, despite strong public opposition to the idea.
Former convicts, she added, no matter what case they had been involved in, carried a stigma from their past.
The other way to try to prevent former convicts from being nominated as regional candidate heads was filing for a judicial review of the regulation with the Constitutional Court, she said. But she added that the first option was the most effective, as the elections would be held already in February. (wnd/bbn)
