Adianto P. Simamora, Jakarta – Poll watchdogs urged the General Elections Commission (KPU) on Monday to reverse its decision to allow four more parties to contest next year's legislative elections.
The decision violated the 2008 elections law and would undermine the legitimacy of the election results, they argued.
People's Voter Education Network (JPPR) national coordinator Jeirry Sumampow accused the KPU of making "certain deals' with four minor parties.
"It is a fatal decision. The KPU sells its authority for the sake of these parties," he told a discussion with journalists. "The KPU should drop this if they want a legitimate election next year," he asserted.
Jeirry could not elaborate on the "deals" between the KPU and the four parties – the Freedom Party, the Indonesian Nahdlatul Ummah Party (PNUI), the Islamic United Party and the Labor Party.
However, he said the KPU may have been involved in "money politics" during the verification process last month to determine the eligibility of political parties to contest the 2009 legislative elections.
The KPU made its decision the day after the State Administrative Court issued a verdict ordering it to allow the four parties to contest the upcoming elections, along with 34 others, which had already been listed as eligible.
Legal expert Topo Santoso of the University of Indonesia said the verdict was legally flawed as it was handed out by the State Administrative Court.
"The 2008 elections law only authorizes district and high courts and the Constitutional Court to handle legal cases related to election matters," Topo, who is a former member of the Elections Supervisory Board, said at the same discussion.
Topo also expressed concern over the State Administrative Court's lack of understanding of the legal aspects of electoral matters.
"If they had read the Constitutional Court verdict, the State Administrative Court should have rejected the petition from the four parties," he said.
Meanwhile, Yulianto from the Consortium on National Law Reform urged the KPU to hire legal experts to deal with legal problems arising, ahead of the elections. "We conclude that one of the weaknesses of the KPU lies in legal matters, as none of its members have legal experience," he said.
The JPPR also called on the Elections Supervisory Board to take position on the KPU's decision to recognize the four parties as being eligible. "They should warn the KPU to avoid such decisions in future," he said.
The KPU is now under pressure from the My Republic Party, which similarly won a legal battle through the State Administrative Court on Friday.
Party members stormed the KPU office on Monday, demanding the polls body should also include their political group in the list of eligible parties for the 2009 election. However, the KPU said it would appeal against the latest verdict.