Adianto P. Simamora, Jakarta – The General Elections Commission (KPU) is still processing public feedback, including complaints, on its recently published preliminary list of legislative candidates.
As of Wednesday, the poll body had received complaints about 85 legislative candidates from 26 political parties.
"We are still collecting public complaints including those sent directly to KPU members via e-mail. I estimate that more than 100 candidates will be implicated in public complaints," KPU member Endang Sulastri told reporters in Jakarta on Wednesday.
"We also received 44 complaints lodged with the elections supervisory body (Bawaslu) late Tuesday. It was reported that three of the referenced candidates allegedly submitted fake diplomas (to meet the registration requirements)."
According to Endang, the majority of the complaints reported allegations of corruption and raised concerns about the morality of certain candidates.
Some 11,868 candidates from 48 parties made it on to the KPU's preliminary list. They will vie for 560 seats at the House of Representatives. The list was published via the media on Oct. 7. The deadline for public complaints was Oct. 14.
An estimated 140 million people will cast their votes when Indonesia holds its second direct legislative elections on Apr. 9 next year.
"We have set the deadline of Oct. 22 for political parties to produce clarifications in response to the public complaints. During the period, the parties can also propose new names to substitute the 'problematic' nominees," she said.
The 2008 law on legislative elections requires parties to respond to public complaints filed against them.
The law also allows crime suspects and people who have served jail terms of less than five years to run in elections. A candidate must be at least 21 years old and have graduated from senior high school.
If a party fails to offer an explanation in response to public criticism, the KPU will drop the suspect candidate from the list. The final list will be announced on Oct. 30.
The legislative election law requires the KPU to open a 10-day window for public complaints once the preliminary list is published.
Poll watchdogs have criticized the KPU's efforts to gather public feedback.
The Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW) reported 77 "problematic" legislative candidates to the KPU on Tuesday. The names include 14 candidates vying for House seats, 50 provincial council candidates and three Regional Representatives Council candidates.
The People's Voter Education Network (JPPR) reported that 21 candidates running for House seats were involved in criminal cases, including nine implicated in corruption cases.
The JPPR also said a further 23 candidates running for provincial legislative seats were connected with criminal activities.
The Indonesia Parliamentary Watchdog reported 21 legislative hopefuls linked to various criminal cases.