Camelia Pasandaran & Markus Junianto Sihaloho – Speculation is mounting that the national polling body is deliberately delaying the announcement of parties eligible to contest the 2014 election because two parties from the ruling coalition may have failed the requirements.
A source inside the General Elections Commission (KPU) revealed to the Jakarta Globe on Friday that the two parties – the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) and the United Development Party (PPP) – did not meet the KPU's criteria for running.
The source, who declined to be named, said that two KPU commissioners, Ida Budiati and Arief Budiman, insisted that the PKS and PPP must be allowed to run, on the basis that they were part of the ruling coalition, had several ministers in the cabinet and already held seats in the House of Representatives.
The source said that the KPU, which was supposed to issue an announcement of the final list of parties for 2014 on Thursday, was deadlocked over the issue, with another commissioner, Hadar Gumay, arguing that if the PKS and the PPP were allowed through, so should the Ulema National Awakening Party (PKNU), which also reportedly failed the verification process.
Unlike the other two parties, the PKNU does not have any seats in the House. All three parties are conservative Islamic-based blocs. None of the commissioners were available for comment.
Ray Rangkuti, director of the Indonesian Civic Network (LIMA), an election watchdog, said the KPU's repeated delays of the announcement date are suspicious.
The commission initially set Oct. 19 as the day for revealing which parties would be allowed to run in the legislative election. It pushed the deadline back to this Thursday. It now expects to make the announcement today.
"They said that the delay was because of a paperwork problem," Ray said on Friday. "What paperwork are they talking about? Surely if they've completed the verification process then all the paperwork should already be in place."
He also criticized the KPU's closed meeting on Thursday, after which the commissioners said there would be another delay in the announcement. "They should ideally hold an open meeting when it comes to the question of which parties have passed the verification phase," Ray said.
The KPU source said it was at this meeting that the commissioners fell out on the issue of whether to pass the PKS and PPP.
Masykurudin Hafidz, manager of the People's Voter Education Network, agreed the delays are undermining the credibility of the KPU and the electoral process. "These delays will hurt the KPU's credibility, especially with the reports of the deadlock among the commissioners," he said. "There are fears of a growing rift in the KPU."