ANN/THE STRAITS TIMES – Indonesia’s election body secured Parliament’s nod yesterday to issue new rules in line with demands from protesters, who have been furious over an attempt by allies of outgoing President Joko Widodo to change eligibility requirements in their favour.
Demonstrations flared up in several cities in Indonesia last week as anger mounted over what critics of Jokowi, as Widodo is popularly known, say is an attempt to further consolidate his power as he prepares to make way for successor Prabowo Subianto in October.
The new rules will adopt a decision made by the Constitutional Court on August 20, which upheld the minimum age of 30 for candidates by the time of nomination and clauses that made it easier for parties to make nominations, the election body’s acting chief Mochammad Afifuddin said.
“We are thankful that we can speed up (the consultation process with Parliament), as it will give more room for us to prepare the nomination process,” he said, referring to the registration of regional leader candidates starting tomorrow.
Parliament had started discussions late last year to revise the regional election laws but decided to speed it up earlier this week, following the Constitutional Court’s decision.
