Jakarta – The House of Representatives has come out in support of Monday's ruling by the Constitutional Court on independent candidates in regional elections.
"The candidature of independent candidates is not a threat but merely grants the people the right to run in local elections," House speaker Agung Laksono told reporters Wednesday. He said that people must accept the decision. "This is a good step for politics in Indonesia."
He added that the involvement of independent candidates should encourage political parties to improve their management. "Political parties are responsible for upgrading their performances and opening up wider opportunities for the people to become involved in local elections," he said.
The Constitutional Court decided Monday to allow independent candidates to contest regional elections, thus annulling some points of the 2004 Regional Autonomy Law, which stipulates that only candidates endorsed by a political party or a group of political parties can run for regional elections in the country.
Agung said the more work was needed, however. "This must be followed by either submitting a government regulation in lieu of the Regional Autonomy Law or a limited review of the law related to the articles about independent candidates in regional elections," he said.
He said that without this there could be confusion over the new laws. "There should be a regulation that explains the mechanism of independent candidacy in regional elections," Agung said. He suggested that the House and the government hold a consultation forum to discuss the regulation.
Separately, State Secretary Hatta Radjasa said the government was yet to decide its stance toward the court's verdict, but basically saw it as a final decision. "The government cannot reject the decision," he said, as quoted by Antara news agency Wednesday.
He added that there would be further discussion to determine new mechanisms for regional elections, but he did not mention an exact time frame. "We will talk about it later," he said.
Hatta said all related institutions must be involved in the discussion to determine the kind of regulation needed.
He said there were several choices of regulation. A new law, a government regulation in lieu of the Regional Autonomy Law or a new regulation on the General Election Commission are all possibilities.
In 2007 and 2008, 14 regions will face regional elections, including Jakarta. Hatta said that regional elections should continue without waiting for the assessment of the ruling.
According to Agung, the coming regional elections must be based on the extant law before the new ruling was issued.