ELECTIONS MAY NOT BE POSTPONED: EX-KPU MEMBER

Jakarta, March 24 (ANTARA) - The legislative and presidential elections may not be postponed but must be implemented as scheduled because a delay of the polls could lead to a protracted political crisis, a former General Election Commissions (KPU) member said.
"We do not have constitutional options if the elections are delayed," former KPU member Mulyana W Kusuma told a discussion organised by Indonesia Democracy Monitor (InDemo) here on Tuesday.
He said that a postponement in the elections would also bring protracted political crisis to the Indonesian people and threaten the nation's integrity.
Kusuma made the remarks in connection with the still many problems faced by the KPU in preparing the elections such as alleged mark-up of fixed voters' list and ballot paper problems.
In the meantime, there were only 16 days left before the legislative elections were held on April 9, 2009. In this case, Kusuma was of the view that the government should assist the KPU by forming an assistance team.
He said that the government's intervention in the election should not be construed as an intervention, because the government was also responsible for the success of the elections.
Kusuma said that if the government was active in assisting the KPU, the polls were not likely to be postponed.
"I think the success of the elections is a bet for the government. Therefore, it is not for the government to discuss it only a cabinet minister's meetings," he said.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono held a meeting with a number of cabinet ministers on Monday to discuss various issues including the fixed voters' list (DPT).
In an informal talk on Tuesday President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Vice President Jusuf Kalla, and House of Representatives (DPR) Speaker Agung Laksono decided that the legislative elections on April 9, 2009 must not be postponed.
"After the inauguration of the Constitutional Court justice, the president, vice president, and I had an informal talk at which we shared the view that there is no reason to postpone the legislative elections," Agung Laksono said.