Deposit sought from election candidates

The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Thu, 11/22/2007 11:35 AM

Irawaty Wardany, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Experts and lawmakers said the proposed requirement of a money deposit for independent candidates running in regional elections was needed to ensure their seriousness of intent.

""We don't want the candidate to withdraw in the middle of the election,"" legislator Andi Yuliani Paris from the National Mandate Party (PAN) told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday after a seminar on the issue.

""We got the idea after we studied candidacy requirements for independent candidates in other countries.""

The House of Representatives proposes requiring a deposit ranging from Rp 200 million (US$21,208) to Rp 1.4 billion for gubernatorial candidates in a province of more than one million people.

For mayoral and regency elections, the House proposes a deposit ranging from Rp 50 million to Rp 350 million for a municipality or regency with a population of more than 100,000 people.

Syaiful Mujani, executive director of the Indonesian Survey Institute, said the deposit requirement was needed to limit the number of independent candidates and to prove their seriousness in running.

""The amount should not be too much that nobody can afford it, but it should also not be so small that everyone can run in the election,"" he told the Post.

Lili Romli, a researcher at the Indonesian Science Institute, shared a similar view, saying the amount of money for the deposit should not burden the independent candidate.

On Sunday a coalition of NGOs expressed their objections to the requirement, saying it was illogical and could lead to corruption.

Yuliani said countries like South Korea, Japan, Lebanon and several states in the U.S. had implemented the deposit requirement for independent candidates who would run in a regional election to confirm their seriousness in the election.

""The requirement... is also an effort to minimize political transactions among the candidates,"" she said.

""It can also prevent them from selling their voters to other candidates.

""If a candidate does not win the election, the money would be returned to him or her,"" Yuliani said.

The House proposed the deposit requirement in the review of the 2004 law on regional administrations after the Constitutional Court ruled in 2007 to allow independent candidates to run in regional elections, she said.

""The deposit requirement and the vote requirement are two main issues being discussed in the review of the law.""

Yuliani added legislators had yet to reach a conclusion for both requirements.

""We are still debating the deposit amount and whether independent candidates should get signatures from a minimum of 3 or 15 percent of voters,"" she said.

""I expect the requirement will not be too high so as not to hamper independent candidacy.

Copyright © 2008 The Jakarta Post - PT Bina Media Tenggara. All Rights Reserved.