POLLS MAY BE DELAYED IF KPU GIVES UP : PPP CHIEF

Jakarta, April 4 (ANTARA) - Muslim-based United Development Party (PPP) Chairman Suryadharma Ali said the April 9 legislative elections could well be postponed if the General Elections Commission (KPU) openly admitted its inability to overcome the technical problems it was still facing.

"Up to now, I still think that the elections must go ahead in accordance with the schedule made earlier," Ali said here on Saturday. But the elections might well be delayed if KPU openly says it is giving up or no longer able to solve the technical problems it is still facing," the PPP chairman said.
He said many packages of fixed voters' lists had not yet evenly distributed to polling stations (TPS) throughout the country, including the many cases of fictitious voters.
"The election may be postponed if KPU openly says it is not yet prepared to organize it technically," he said.
He said that there would be no problem with his party if the election body frankly admitted it was unable to organize the election on time and asked for a delay.
Ali said that he feared the elections, if conducted in such a condition, would create distrust among voters, as it could cause suspicions that marks up had taken place due to the many cases of fictitious voters in the lists.
"We have to sit together to seek a common solution," he added.