KPU TO OFFICIALLY ANNOUNCE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES MAY 29

Jakarta, May 28 (ANTARA) - The General Elections Commission (KPU) will on May 29 officially announce the presidential and vice presidential candidates who will compete in the upcoming election on July 8, 2009, a spokesman said.

KPU member I Gusti Putu Artha said here on Wednesday that the KPU in its plenary meeting had decided to move forward the schedules for the official naming of the presidential and vice presidential candidates and the drawing of their official sequence numbers.

He said the presidential and vice presidential candidates would officially be named on May 29, 2009 and their official sequence numbers would be drawn on May 30, 2009.

The drawing of the sequence numbers of the presidential and vice presidential tickets would be held in two stages. The first draw would decide who would get their first, second and third turns to pick their would be official numbers. The second stage would be the drawing of their official numbers.

On the presidential campaign schedule, Artha said the campaign schedule was also moved forward to June 2, 2009. But the schedule for the open-door public debates would not be moved forward or would remain on the previous schedules of June 12, 2009 to July 4, 2009.

So, in the June 2 - June 12 period, the presidential candidates could conduct campaign in the form, for example, of distribution of pamphlets or the putting up of banners.

Artha said that it was agreed that there would be campaign which would mobilize the masses before June 13, 2009.

He said that the KPU was also revising a KPU regulation on the 2009 presidential elections schedules. Before it is adopted the preparation stages and schedules should be authenticated first.

Previously, the schedule for the naming of presidential candidate pairs and the drawing of their sequence number was set on June 9, 2009.