Buleleng tense after regent election

Buleleng tense after regent election

I Wayan Juniartha, The Jakarta Post, Singaraja, Bali

Tensions are rising in the coastal regency of Buleleng, some
100 kilometers north of Denpasar on Tuesday following the defeat
of PDI Perjuangan's duo for the top regent and deputy regent
posts for the 2002-2007 period in a regency election on Monday.

The defeated nominee, Sudharmaja Duniaji who is also the local
legislative council chairman, stated his objection to the voting
that resulted in duo Putu Bagiada and Gede Wardana being elected
as the new regent and deputy regent of Buleleng.

Sudharmaja and 26 other PDI Perjuangan councillors then
declared the election result as void, but the council's election
committee refused to obey Sudharmaja's move and continued with
the election process instead.

"The result is valid. Our obligation is to conduct an
election, and I personally believe that we have fulfilled that
obligation in accordance with all regulations and laws. If the
council, or some parts of the council, question its validity and
refuse to accept it is not my problem and neither is it the
problem of this committee," the election committee's chairman I
Nyoman Gede Astawa said.

The election committee sealed the voting papers, put them
inside a locked white wooden box, which was later temporarily
kept at the local police station before being sent on Wednesday
to the Bali Governor's office in Denpasar.

It was a tragic and humiliating defeat for Sudharmaja since
his candidacy was openly supported by his own party, the
Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan).

Three members of the party's central executive committee,
Mangara Siahaan, Gunawan Wirosaroyo, and Gusti Ngurah Sara,
attended the election in an apparent show of support for
Sudharmaja. Moreover, PDI Perjuangan holds a 31-seat majority in
the Buleleng council.

A local analyst said the result of the voting reflected the
deep rift that currently exists within the local PDI Perjuangan
structure.

The election was held under very tight security that involved
at least 2,500 security officers, including some 300 officers
from the Denpasar-based police elite Mobile Brigade.

Two rows of police personnel guarded the council building,
roads were closed, barricades placed, and two armored tactical
vehicles were seen nearby. Hundreds of pecalang (traditional
guards) were also deployed all over Singaraja.