TEMPO Interaktif, Jakarta: The General Election Commission wished that the decision of the Constitutional Court on the judicial review on Act No. 10/2008 on General Election for members of the House of Representatives, City Councils, and Regional Parliaments could be issued before the registration process of new members of the City Council begun. The reason, said the Chief of the Commission Abdul Hafiz Anshary, was in order that the Commission could adjust the verification requirements for member candidates of the City Council with the decision of the Court.

"At the moment we can only wait for the decision of the Constitutional Court. The General Election Commission would adjust later to the decision of the Court," said Hafiz in his office, Jakarta, Monday (23/6).

The adjustment, said Hafiz, could be done at the time of the verification period. The Commission just needed to verify the residence of the member candidates and the involvement of the candidates in political parties.

Before, the City Councils filed a judicial review on Act on General Election. The reason was that, the Act did not require candidates of the Council not to be in the management of parties for certain period of time. Besides that, the Act of the Election did not regulate the residence of the candidates.

The General Election Commission, said Hafiz, would continue the stages of the 2009 Election even though the Constitutional Court could possibly grant the judicial review of the Act. The Commission had set the schedule for the registration of the member candidates for City Councils on June 27, 2008. "It is impossible for us to stop the process of the 2009 Election," he said.

Source www.tempointeraktif.com (June 23, 2008)

Photo courtesy of Constitutional Court Public Relation Doc.