Activists file judicial review on election law

The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Tue, 09/02/2008 4:48 PM | National

Three activists filed for a judicial review at the Constitutional Court on Wednesday, demanding the annulment of several articles in the 2003 law on presidential elections.

Political analyst and activist Fadjroel Rachman, together with the executive director of Jurnal Perempuan women's group Mariana Amiruddin and Muhammadiyah youth activist Bob Febrian, said they were fighting for Indonesian citizens' right to vote for independent candidates.

"Three articles of the law state that presidential candidates must be nominated by a political party or coalition. Under this mechanism, citizens do not have the chance to vote for or run as independent candidates," said the activists' lawyer, Taufik Basari, as quoted by Kompas.com.

Fadjroel, who has declared his readiness to be an independent presidential candidate, said all citizens should be entitled to run for the 2009 presidential election without being nominated by a political party.

Mariana said allowing independent presidential candidates would create more opportunities for democratic solutions and maintaining tolerance.

The Constitutional Court previously allowed independent candidates to run in local direct elections. (dre)

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