Government Approves One Round of Presidential Poll

Jakarta (Antara) - The Indonesian government has supported a request for a judicial review of the presidential election law to allow one round of election, an official said. "Under the presidential law, presidential poll must be conducted effectively and efficiently," expert staff member of the home affairs minister for law, politics, and inter-institutional relations Reydonnyzar Moenek reported in the government's reply to a judicial review of the presidential election law at the Constitutional Court here on Monday. As two pairs of presidential and vice-presidential candidates will contest the July 9 presidential election, the poll must consider provisions in the 1945 Constitution and the Presidential Election Law, which assumes more than two duos, he said. "It seems that this method was a shortcut of provisions in Article 6A sub-article (4) of the 1945 Constitution and Article 159 sub-article (2) of the Presidential Election Law, which only require the most votes without considering the percentage of the most votes in each province," he added. He said if the percentage of vote tally in each province in the presidential poll is applied, the percentage of vote tally in the second round of the presidential election will not change significantly. "This will only prolong the process of presidential election and give rise to vacuum of power," he said. The government's reply is a response to the request by the Constitutional Lawyers Forum, and individuals Sunggul Hamonangan Sirait and Haposan Situmorang, for a judicial review of Article 159 sub-article (1) of the Presidential Election Law. (*) Reported by Joko Susilo