Banyumas regent election annulled

Agus Maryono, The Jakarta Post, Purwokerto, Central Java

The Banyumas Legislative Council annulled on Wednesday the results of last week's election that made Aris Setiono the new regent after allegations emerged that he won the position through vote-buying.

Following a three-day investigation into the reports by the election committee, the council ruled the March 19 election as void.

"If the suspicion of money politics is proven to be right, then the election of the regent must be declared void," said Sutikno, a member of the election committee.

Based on the 1999 Law on regional autonomy, Jakarta has delegated the elections of governors and regents to the regions.

The law calls for a second election if the winning governor or regent is proven guilty of vote-buying.

Aris and his running mate, Imam Durori, should have been sworn in as Banyumas new regent and deputy regent during the council's plenary session on Monday. Both are from the Golkar faction.

However, council speaker Tri Waluyo Basuki asked the election committee to investigate the reports of vote-buying behind Setiono's victory.

The reports came from the Swara Hati foundation and the Banyumas chapter of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-Perjuangan).

Aris and Imam won 28 of the 45 votes in the election, while the candidates of PDI-Perjuangan and the National Awakening faction (PKB), won only 17 votes.

PDI-Perjuangan said its candidates should have won at least 25 votes because the party has 17 seats in the legislature while PKB has another eight.

In its report to the council, PDI-Perjuangan said faction members Achmad Sudirta and Supadi confessed they accepted Rp 200 million (about US$22,400) from Aris in return for their votes.

The two men said a legislator of the Golkar faction had offered them the money the night before the election. Golkar has denied the allegations.

Aris and Imam would have been sworn in during Wednesday's special plenary session if the committee had not found the reports credible.

A heated debate broke out when Sudirta and Supadi said they wanted to retract their confessions because they were made under pressure.

But legislators dismissed the appeal, as neither of the two men could explain their claims of being forced to confess.

PDI Perjuangan won the simple majority in the 1999 general election but has often been defeated in gubernatorial and regent elections despite its domination in provincial and regency legislature.