Djan Faridz's PPP Backs Direct Election of Regional Leaders

Jakarta (Antara) - The United Development Party (PPP) General Chairman Djan Faridz elected during the recently held 8th national congress in Jakarta expressed support to the government's regulation in lieu of law (Perppu) on direct local elections. "The PPP can understand this government regulation because it politically reflects an effort to uphold the people's sovereignty," he told journalists here on Friday in response to the party's political stance regarding this matter. The House of Representatives (DPR) will take a decision whether the Perppu on direct election of regional leaders, which former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono had issued before the end of his presidential term, is to be accepted. Faridz said the national congress recently organized in Jakarta by his political party had come up with a recommendation that the general election system in future needs to be more democratic and be able to minimize political fragmentation and avoid unaccounted votes. Meanwhile, Chairman of the PPP Advisory Council Suryadharma Ali stated that the leaders of all political parties backing the Red-White Coalition who met in Cikeas, West Java, did not specifically discuss about this matter. The political party leaders attending the Cikeas meeting did not even arrive at a decision about the government regulation in lieu of law on the direct election of regional leaders, he pointed out. (*)