Aides tell Mega not to contest poll defeat

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.