Court rules in favor of Alzier
Court rules in favor of Alzier
Oyos Saroso H.N., Bandarlampung
The Jakarta Administrative Court has ruled in favor of Lampung
governor-elect Alzier Dianis Thabranie against the annulment of
his 2002 electoral victory by Minister of Home Affairs Hari
Sabarno.
The court said Hari's decree canceling the provincial
legislative council's decision to elect Alzier was invalid
because the minister had no authority to do so.
"The legal reasoning of the judges is well-founded because
Hari Sabarno issued the decision not in the name of the President
but as the home minister," Alzier said on Friday, quoting his
lawyer Leopold P. Simorangkir.
Alzier said the court also ordered the minister as the
respondent to revoke Decree No. 161.27-598/2003 that annulled the
results of the gubernatorial election for the 2003-2008 period.
The verdict was handed down on Thursday in a trial presided
over by Judge Is Sudaryo and judges Yodi Martono and Bambang
Hariyanto.
The judges turned down all defense pleas presented by Hari's
lawyers -- S. Manuwarang, Siti Nurlifa Alfianti and Romano
Manurung, and instead ordered the central government to issue a
new decision to endorse Alzier's election.
The court also recommended that the verdict be maintained
until after a permanent legal verdict was issued, as the
minister's lawyers said they would appeal the verdict.
Alzier and his elected deputy governor Ansory Yunus filed a
lawsuit with the Jakarta Administrative Court to challenge the
annulment.
The elected pair then appointed Leonard, Luhut Pangaribuan and
Yuana Berliyanti as their lawyers to represent them in the civil
case.
The council voted for Alzier in the gubernatorial election on
Dec. 30, 2002, defeating then incumbent governor Oemarsono who
was backed by the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle's (PDI-
P) leader President Megawati Soekarnoputri.
But the home minister refused to approve Alzier's victory in
February due to what he claimed were procedural violations, after
police brought graft charges against the governor-elect.
On Feb. 12, 2003, Lampung's Tanjungkarang District Court
sentenced Alzier to nine months in prison suspended for 12 months
in cases of corruption and using a fake diploma.
He was also ordered to pay Rp 5 million (US$561) or serve a
two-month prison term should he not be able to afford the fine.
Alzier was found guilty of embezzling 500 tons of fertilizer
and using a fake diploma.
Responding to the court verdict against the home minister's
annulment decree, Lampung Legislative Council speaker Nurhasanah
said on Friday it would not stop the council leaders' plan to
hold a revote to elect a new governor on May 26.
The repeat election was scheduled for May 15 but was postponed
for 11 days as there was only one pairing of candidates eligible
for the revote.
Apart from that, some factions in the PDI-P dominated council
and new political parties opposed the plan, arguing that the
revote should be held after the new legislature is formed after
the April 5 legislative election.
Critics accused the PDI-P of attempting to ensure its pair of
gubernatorial hopefuls win the planned revote by speeding up its
process, so the would-elected candidates could help Megawati grab
more votes in the July 5 presidential election.
Megawati's PDI-P garnered fewer votes in the April legislative
election than the Golkar Party.
However, Nurhasanah of PDI-P insisted that the revote should
go ahead, saying the administrative court's verdict had nothing
to do with the plans for a repeat election.