Critics See Conspiracy in Blocking of Minor Parties

KPU chairman Husni Kamil Manik is set
to face legal challenges over his office's decision
to disqualify 24 of 34 parties from the 2014 polls. (JG Photo)

Monday night’s announcement that just 10 out of 34 parties had passed the final verification to contest the 2014 elections has sparked accusations of favoritism and even a rigged vetting process. 

Ray Rangkuti, an election observer and director of the Indonesian Civic Network (LIMA), said the fact that the nine parties currently at the House of Representatives and a new party with massive financial backing were the only ones to make the grade was highly suspicious. 

“It’s as though there was a conspiracy from the very beginning to only have 10 parties pass the verification,” he said. 

He added that in the first phase of the two-stage verification process, all the parties, including the 10 successful ones, had encountered problems, so it was strange that they should be given the green light in the second phase. 

Ray said that 18 of the 24 parties ruled out of the race by the General Elections Commission (KPU) appeared to be the victim of a campaign by the polling commission to ensure that they did not pass. 

“The KPU has from the beginning shown a proclivity for wanting to exclude these parties,” he said, noting that they were initially disqualified by the KPU after the first stage of the verification, only to be reinstated following allegations of ethical violations by KPU officials. 

Yusfitriadi, coordinator of the People’s Voter Education Network (JPPR), said the KPU would have to be prepared for a deluge of legal challenges mounted by the smaller parties objecting to its decision. 

He warned that the ensuing inquiries could raise some controversial issues, such as inconsistencies in how the KPU’s regional offices, or KPUDs, verified membership numbers for small and large parties. 

Questions will be raised, he said, “about how the parties that passed managed to do so when in many cases their members’ addresses could not be verified.”

“There’s also the question of verifying a party’s presence at the subdistrict level. The KPU can’t have verified this, because how would they have done it in keeping with the requirements?” Yusfitriadi said. 

He added that the parties blocked from the 2014 polls “still have some hope” of making the grade, although he warned that the sheer volume of legal challenges expected to be filed could compromise the election schedule. 

The parties themselves have accused the KPU of being inconsistent and favoring the established players. 

Sutiyoso, the former Jakarta governor and chairman of the United Indonesian Justice Party (PKPI), said that if the KPU had carried out the verification process by the book, no parties would have passed. 

He said the fact that the nine House parties and the National Democratic Party (NasDem) had passed showed that the KPU had gone easier on them. 

He also said he suspected there was a grand plan to “kill all non-House parties.” 

“Some of the House parties definitely shouldn’t have passed,” Sutiyoso said. 

Yusril Ihza Mahendra, the former justice minister and a senior official with the Crescent Star Party (PBB), took issue with the fact that some parties had been disqualified for failing to meet a requirement for 30 percent female membership. 

He argued that the KPU could not disqualify a party on this point alone, saying the KPU was playing the parties for fools. 

“Don’t you dare play us for fools. We can take this to the Constitutional Court or the Supreme Court. It’s a fundamental issue, and you’re not on the same level to debate the law with me,” Yusril said. 

The parties that did pass, however, welcomed the KPU’s decision. 

Taufik Kiemas, a senior member of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), said he believed the public would be happy with a trimmed-down ballot listing just 10 parties. 

He said it would result in less confusion for voters at the ballot box, as well as lead to a less fractured House, which in turn would strengthen the presidency.

Mahfudz Siddiq, deputy secretary general of the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), said all sides should respect the KPU’s decision because the verification was done “in a transparent manner.” 

“I believe the fact that 10 parties passed shows we have made progress in terms of political consolidation, and a lower number is something that voters have been expecting,” he said.

Post: www.thejakartaglobe.com

Repost: Jaringan Pendidikan Pemilih untuk Rakyat (JPPR)