"So far 10,000 have been ready to file a lawsuit against the pilkada law, because we do not want our right to be taken by the House of Representatives (DPR)," Dyhta Caturani, the field coordinator of a peaceful action at Hotel Indonesia roundabout by Coalition Against Pilkada Law, said here on Sunday.
She said the power of attorney would later be handed over to two organizations that would represent them to file a lawsuit with the Constitutional Court namely the Commission of Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) and Perludem (the Organization for Elections and Democracy) grouped in the Coalition Against Pilkada Law.
"We invite people or citizens who reject the Pilkada law to participate in it. We have so far been mobilizing public participation to reject the Pilkada law," she said.
In the peaceful action the Kita Bergerak (We Move) group helped the two organizations to collect people who wished to submit a power of attorney to reject the law.
"We have collected IDs and muster public participation. Today we called on those who have submitted their IDs and those who wished to but have not yet done it to sign a power of attorney to be submitted for the lawsuit," she said.
"The field action is part of a series of actions that have been carried out at the same place since last week consisting of ID collection in the field as well as on-line and by e-mail," she said.
Besides submitting a power of attorney people who reject the Pilkada law have also given a little finger print as a sign of their rejection of the law.
The House of Representatives passed the Pilkada bill into law recently through a vote changing the current direct system of elections of provincial governors, district heads and city mayors into an indirect one through regional legislative assemblies (DPRD).
The Democrat Party and its general chairman President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono received harsh criticism following the passage of the bill after the party walked out of the vote allowing the proponents of the bill to win.
In connection with that President Yudhoyono has issued a regulation in lieu of the law locally called Perppu. However it will only be effective it is approved by DPR which is now controlled by the Red-White coalition of parties that support the new Pilkada law.
The Red-White coalition was the supporter of Prabowo Subianto in the presidential election on July 9 that he lost to Joko Widodo.
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reporting by martha herlinawati simanjuntak
(H-YH/f001)
(T.SYS/B/H-YH/F001) 12-10-2014 14:02:16
Editor: Priyambodo RH
Copyright © ANTARA 2014
