Gerindra: No Need to Make It Harder for Independents to Run
Jakarta. A deputy chairman of the House of Representatives’ Commission II, Ahmad Riza Patria, says there is no need to amend the Regional Elections Law to make it more difficult for independent candidates to run for office than it already is.
The law currently requires the support of 7.5 percent of eligible voters within the electoral region, and according to Riza that is an ideal number.
Some of the Great Indonesia Movement (Gerindra) Party fellow lawmakers, however, want to tighten restrictions, a move widely seen as emanating from Jakarta Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama's stated desire to run independently.
The popular governor, better known as Ahok, will have to gain the support of around 535,000 eligible voters in the capital to be able to run.
Currently, the Regional Election Law is being discussed within the government, and no draft of amendments has yet been submitted to the House.
“We have not received the draft from the government. We must see what the government proposes, then discuss it in Commission II,” Riza said in Jakarta on Friday (18/03).
“Commission II will provide equal opportunities to any regional leadership candidates,” Riza said, adding that the more candidates there are in regional elections, the better.
Earlier this week, House Speaker Ade Komaruddin said that some provisions in the Regional Elections Law needed to be changed, but added that those related to independent candidates were not among them.
With the House currently on recess, the law revision could be discussed at the start of the new session in April.
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