Aides tell Mega not to contest poll defeat

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

In order for outgoing President Megawati Soekarnoputri to leave the State Palace gracefully, some of her political party leaders have urged her not to press ahead with plans to challenge the election results through the Constitutional Court.

Among those making the calls were State Minister of State Enterprises Laksamana Sukardi, a senior official with the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and one of Megawati's close aides.

Laksamana said Megawati has apparently conceded defeat in the Sept. 20 presidential election runoff to her former chief security minister Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

"Ibu Mega has said that we have concluded our jobs to lead the country toward (full-fledged) democracy. For me it's a very clear message," he said on Wednesday.

Asked if Megawati should challenge the election results through the Constitutional Court, Laksamana said: "I don't think it's necessary, but I don't know."

He pointed out that alleged irregularities in vote counting may not be significant enough to alter Megawati's position. "If there are insignificant irregularities for example, then what?" he said.

On Tuesday, PDI-P legislator Trimedya Panjaitan, who is a member of Megawati's legal team, also made the same suggestion.

Lawyer Gayus Lumbuun, who heads the legal team, said he would present recommendations to Megawati on whether there were strong grounds to file an appeal against her defeat with the Constitutional Court.

The final say will be with Megawati, he added.

"We are still counting the votes that have been marked up. We expect to announce it by 1 p.m. on Thursday," Gayus told The Jakarta Post.

The General Elections Commission (KPU) declared Susilo and running mate Jusuf Kalla on Monday the winners of the country's first direct presidential election, with some 69 million votes, or 60.68 percent of the total valid votes, far higher than the 39.38 percent grabbed by the Megawati-Hasyim Muzadi ticket.

Based on Presidential Election Law, Megawati is given three days (until Thursday) to appeal the poll results with the Constitutional Court. The deadline is 4 p.m. on Thursday.

Megawati's campaign team members have said they were considering challenging the defeat, claiming that there were irregularities of over 13 million votes in favor of Susilo.

If the team decides to appeal, they have to prove the irregularities at the Constitutional Court, so as to deduct the 13 million votes from Susilo. The court could then name Megawati as the election victor should all the presented evidence be proven valid and the 13 million votes added to Megawati's tally.

Wiranto, Golkar Party's presidential candidate who lost in the first round of the election on July 5, challenged the election results but failed to prove his claim of some five million irregular votes due to lack of evidence.

Constitutional Court president Jimly Asshidiqie has said that judges will only hear election cases that would likely affect the final counting results.

However, he said on Wednesday the court would still give an opportunity to both the winning and losing parties to challenge the election results.

"We should honor their rights. But, if none of them use their constitutional rights, we will announce publicly that the KPU's decision to declare the Susilo winner is final," he said.

Susilo is scheduled to be inaugurated on Oct. 20 as the new president. Until then, Megawati remains president, Jimly said.

Susilo's camp has said the president-elect would present his first formal victory speech only after the Constitutional Court confirms his win.