SBY orders Golkar, PKS rift in Depok to be settled amicably<\/p>\n
Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has instructed Minister of
\nHome Affairs M. Ma'aruf to seek ways to settle the Depok mayoral
\nelection dispute involving candidates from the Golkar Party and
\nthe Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), the parties which constitute
\nthe main political base of his administration.<\/p>\n
\"The President specifically asked the minister to follow up,
\nmonitor and settle it in accordance with the law,\" presidential
\nspokesman Andi Mallarangeng said on Saturday after a meeting
\nbetween the President and several ministers and top security
\nofficials at Halim Perdanakusuma air base in East Jakarta upon
\narrival home from an overseas trip.<\/p>\n
Tension has been abound after the Supreme Court annulled last
\nweek the ruling of the West Java High Court issued in August
\nwhich awarded Golkar Party candidates Badrul Kamal and
\nSyihabuddin Ahmad the election victory in the June 26 mayoral
\nelection in Depok, West Java. The high court's controversial
\ndecision was contested by PKS mayoral candidate Nur Mahmudi Nur
\nIsmail and his running mate Yuyun Wirasaputra, whom the Depok
\nGeneral Elections Commission (KPUD) named as winner of the
\nmayoral election.<\/p>\n
On Sunday dozens of Badrul's supporters rallied to protest the
\nSupreme Court decision. Wearing shirts and jackets from Golkar,
\nthe protesters gathered in front of the Depok municipality office
\non Jl. Margonda. Some of them delivered speeches and led the
\ncrowd in songs.<\/p>\n
The supporters are expected to stage a rally at the Supreme
\nCourt and the Ministry of Home Affairs on Monday.<\/p>\n
Ma'ruf, speaking separately, said that his office had yet to
\nobtain a copy of the Supreme Court verdict.<\/p>\n
\"We need to read the verdict first. After that, there is a
\nprocedure to follow it up. The KPUD must inform the local
\ncouncil, which must extend it to the mayor. The mayor is required
\nto inform the (West Java) governor and the minister of home
\naffairs of the decision,\" Ma'ruf said.<\/p>\n
Golkar Party camp was apparently disappointed with the Supreme
\nCourt's decision.<\/p>\n
\"The Supreme Court has issued a ruling mandating the authority
\nto hear regional election dispute at the regency\/mayoralty level
\nto the high courts, whose verdicts are final and binding,\" Golkar
\nsenior member Akil Mochtar told detikcom news portal.<\/p>\n
Law No. 32\/2004 on regional elections rules that the Supreme
\nCourt may delegate the high court to settle election disputes at
\nthe regency\/mayoralty level.<\/p>\n
Chief Justice Bagir Manan acknowledged that the high court's
\nruling was final and binding, however, he said KPUD Depok was
\nstill allowed to seek a case review of the West Java High Court
\nruling via an extraordinary legal effort.<\/p>\n
Vice President Jusuf Kalla, who also chairs the Golkar Party,
\nsaid in Solok, West Sumatra, on Saturday that Golkar had always
\nrespected the law, but it did not necessarily mean that the party
\nshould accept the Supreme Court's decision.<\/p>\n
He said that the right to either accept or reject the decision
\nwas in the hands of Badrul and his running mate Syihabuddin.
\n\"The one who must accept (the ruling) is not the party, but the
\ncandidate,\" he was quoted by Kompas online as saying.<\/p>\n
Golkar is the largest party in the House of Representatives,
\nwhile PKS is the only Islamic-oriented party supporting Susilo.<\/p>\n
After the Depok election body announced the mayoral election
\nresult, Badrul filed a protest with the West Java High Court
\narguing that their candidates should have won the election since
\nmany of their supporters had been denied the opportunity to vote.<\/p>\n
The high court approved it and pushed up Badrul's final vote
\ntally to 269,551 at the expense of Nur Mahmudi's votes that
\ndecreased to 204,828. Many observers questioned the ruling
\nparticularly the court's assumption that those who did not vote
\nwould automatically vote for Badrul.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/sby-orders-golkar-pks-rift-in-depok-to-be-settled-amicably-1447893297",
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