Court issues decree on election disputes

Court issues decree on election disputes

JAKARTA: The Supreme Court has issued a decree for resolving
disputes about the results of direct regional elections, Chief
Justice Bagir Manan said during the weekend.

Bagir said all election disputes would be handled by the
Supreme Court but that it could delegate lower courts to handle
cases in certain situations.

According to the Supreme Court Decree No. 1/2005 on
procedures to challenge election results, there would be no
formal hearings in disputes, with judges only examining election
documents submitted by the conflicting parties.

Plaintiffs would be required to register their complaints
directly to district courts across the country as the Supreme
Court did not recognize files sent by email or faxes.

Some regions are scheduled to hold direct elections for
governors, regents and mayors in June, in what would be the first
direct election of regional leaders in the country. -- JP