Jakarta (ANTARA) - Indonesian House of Representatives' Chairman Bambang Soesatyo has lent his support to revising Law Number 7 of 2017 on general elections to streamline rules on implementation of the elections.
The area in need of revision is to restore rules to implement legislative elections (Pileg) and presidential elections (Pilpres) separately as opposed to simultaneously.
"I concur with the elections not being organized concurrently. The legislative and presidential elections should be held separately, with a maximum three-month campaigning period," Bambang Soesatyo remarked in Jakarta on Thursday.
The House speaker pointed to various loopholes in the implementation of simultaneous election, including its rather complicated nature and making it tougher for voters to make their choices.
To add to such complexities were the reportedly deaths of members of polling station working committee (KPPS) due to overwork after toiling protracted hours on polling day on Apr 17 to fulfill their tasks and duties.
Fatigue was largely the reason behind the deaths of KPPS members.
KPU Commissioner Viryan Aziz notified journalists in Jakarta on Tuesday of 119 KPPS members dying, and 548 others becoming unwell. The aforementioned people were manning different ballot booths across Indonesia's 25 provinces.
Moreover, Elections Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu) Commissioner Fritz Edward Siregar has reported that 33 KPPS members too died while accomplishing electoral duties.
House Speaker backs revision of Electoral Law 2017
