Jakarta – Candidates of House of Representatives member from Aceh are scheduled to follow Koran reading test next week, as part of candidacy criteria.

"Alhamdulillah, every political party has agreed with the requirement," said Yawin Adi Dharma, chairman of candidacy committee at Independent Election Commission in Aceh, as quoted by Antara on Sunday.

Yawin said that the test was implemented with Ordinance No. 3/2008 on local political parties and legislative candidates for the election in Aceh. Article 13 and 36 of the ordinance stipulate that Muslim candidates must be able to perform Islamic rituals and recite from the Koran, respectively.

"The regulation does not violate any higher law, but rather an implementation of sharia spirit," said Yawin.

In the same week, KIP will also test provincial and regency legislative candidates in Aceh, no less that 5,000 people.

The Aceh KIP has formed 10 examination teams, each made up of four Koranic scholars. It will take around a week for the examiners to test all of the candidates. Each participant will be given five minutes to read a verse chosen randomly by the examiner. (dre)