Court ruling against PKS final, chief justice says<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta, Bandung<\/p>\n
Nur Mahmudi Ismail may have to accept the controversial verdict
\nthat converted his apparent victory in West Java's Depok mayoral
\nelection, with Supreme Court chief Bagir Manan saying the lower
\ncourt ruling was final and binding.<\/p>\n
\"It was the last resort in the legal process. There are no
\nother legal avenues beyond that,\" he said at his office on
\nWednesday, as quoted by Antara.<\/p>\n
Bagir was responding to decisions by the Prosperous Justice
\nParty (PKS), which nominated Nur Mahmudi, and the West Java
\nelections commission to file a request for the Supreme Court to
\nreview the verdict.<\/p>\n
The West Java High Court last week overturned Nur Mahmudi's
\nvictory in the June 26 Depok election, instead declaring Golkar
\nParty candidate Badrul Kamal the winner.<\/p>\n
It ruled that 27,782 votes had been incorrectly given to Nur
\nMahmudi, and that 62,770 votes had been \"taken away\" from Badrul.<\/p>\n
Bagir -- who is a senior Golkar member -- stressed that the
\nruling was final and it could not be challenged by further legal
\naction.<\/p>\n
Article 106 (1) of Law No. 32\/2004 on regional administration
\nstipulates that the provincial high court is the only legal
\ninstitution authorized to settle local election disputes, and
\nthat its decisions are final and binding.<\/p>\n
However, Law No. 5\/2004 states that the Supreme Court can hold
\nan extraordinary legal hearing to review a lower court ruling.<\/p>\n
In response, Bagir insisted that any issues related regional
\nelections must refer to Law No. 32\/2004.<\/p>\n
The ruling drew protests from the PKS and the elections
\ncommission, which both argued that the provincial high court's
\ndecision was issued based solely on evidence presented by
\nwitnesses believed to be Badrul's supporters, while none of Nur
\nMahmudi's supporters were summoned to testify.<\/p>\n
The PKS also said the ruling was invalid because it was handed
\ndown after the 14-day limit for lawsuits was filed by the Badrul
\ncamp.<\/p>\n
However, Bagir said his office would establish a panel of five
\njudges to evaluate the lower court ruling and determine what
\nsteps could be taken in regard to the regional election.<\/p>\n
\"But (even) if the panel of judges find flaws in the ruling,
\nwe cannot do anything about it\", he added.<\/p>\n
The chief justice said there were \"bad laws\" and \"good laws\",
\nbut stressed that in the case of the Depok mayoral election, the
\nregulation was binding.<\/p>\n
The PKS has also taken the electoral dispute to the Judicial
\nCommission in the hope that it would help pave the way for the
\nreview of the verdict against Nur Mahmudi.<\/p>\n
Judicial Commission member Chatamar Rasjid said that if there
\nwere any flaws in the court ruling, his body could issue a
\nwarning to the judges, or suspend or dismiss them.<\/p>\n
\"We will soon evaluate the judges, and review the aspects that
\nhave caused people dissatisfaction,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The electoral dispute has sparked conflict between Golkar and
\nPKS supporters in Bandung, with both staging protests over the
\npast week.<\/p>\n
On Wednesday, over 1,500 people from Golkar youth
\norganizations gathered in the West Java legislative council to
\nsupport the court ruling.<\/p>\n
They urged the council to immediately submit a recommendation
\nletter to the home affairs minister, so that he could inaugurate
\nBadrul immediately.<\/p>\n
Golkar protesters mocked PKS supporters, telling them to stop
\ntheir protests, and threatening that they would mobilize some
\n10,000 women wearing Islamic headdress to confront them.<\/p>\n
\"They say their party is clean and upholds the law. But
\ninstead, they have held the supremacy of law in contempt,\" said
\nJohni Hidayat of the Siliwangi Youth Organization who is also a
\nGolkar councillor.<\/p>\n
No PKS supporters in Bandung staged demonstrations on
\nWednesday, but dozens of students from different universities
\nthere strongly criticized the court's ruling.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/court-ruling-against-pks-final-chief-justice-says-1447893297",
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