Surabaya Election Officials Ban Mayor Risma's Only Rival
Jakarta. The Surabaya office of the General Elections Commission (KPU) has rejected the application of Surabaya mayoral hopefuls Rasiyo and Dhimam Abror, raising new concerns over a possible delay in the local election, which currently only features one candidate: incumbent Mayor Tri Rismaharini.
KPU Surabaya branch chief Robiyan Arifin said the pair failed to pass administrative procedures because of Dhimam's inability to present the necessary tax-related documents.
“The person in question [Dhimam] has never reported [his tax payment] to the tax office, thus we declared him unqualified [to run],” Robiyan said in Surabaya on Sunday, according to news portal liputan6.com.
The candidate for mayor, Rasiyo, has submitted all required documents, but his running mate's failure to meet administrative requirements rendered the pair ineligible to take part in the election scheduled on Dec. 9, officials said.
The KPU in Surabaya already extended the registration deadline for candidates several times -- from the original registration period of July 26-28, to Aug. 1-3 and later to Aug. 9-11.
Only the popular mayor known as Risma had registered by the first two deadlines. The pair Rasiyo-Dhimam only decided to join the race by the third deadline.
Robiyan said the KPU had decided to extend the registration period yet again, and candidates are welcome to apply from Sept. 6 through Sept. 8.
All political parties, including the Democratic Party and the National Mandate Party (PAN), which nominated Rasiyo-Dhimam, will be allowed to nominate candidates, he said.
Risma and her running mate, Whisnu Sakti Buana, are being backed by President Joko Widodo's Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P).
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