Court ruling against PKS final, chief justice says
Court ruling against PKS final, chief justice says
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta, Bandung
Nur Mahmudi Ismail may have to accept the controversial verdict
that converted his apparent victory in West Java's Depok mayoral
election, with Supreme Court chief Bagir Manan saying the lower
court ruling was final and binding.
"It was the last resort in the legal process. There are no
other legal avenues beyond that," he said at his office on
Wednesday, as quoted by Antara.
Bagir was responding to decisions by the Prosperous Justice
Party (PKS), which nominated Nur Mahmudi, and the West Java
elections commission to file a request for the Supreme Court to
review the verdict.
The West Java High Court last week overturned Nur Mahmudi's
victory in the June 26 Depok election, instead declaring Golkar
Party candidate Badrul Kamal the winner.
It ruled that 27,782 votes had been incorrectly given to Nur
Mahmudi, and that 62,770 votes had been "taken away" from Badrul.
Bagir -- who is a senior Golkar member -- stressed that the
ruling was final and it could not be challenged by further legal
action.
Article 106 (1) of Law No. 32/2004 on regional administration
stipulates that the provincial high court is the only legal
institution authorized to settle local election disputes, and
that its decisions are final and binding.
However, Law No. 5/2004 states that the Supreme Court can hold
an extraordinary legal hearing to review a lower court ruling.
In response, Bagir insisted that any issues related regional
elections must refer to Law No. 32/2004.
The ruling drew protests from the PKS and the elections
commission, which both argued that the provincial high court's
decision was issued based solely on evidence presented by
witnesses believed to be Badrul's supporters, while none of Nur
Mahmudi's supporters were summoned to testify.
The PKS also said the ruling was invalid because it was handed
down after the 14-day limit for lawsuits was filed by the Badrul
camp.
However, Bagir said his office would establish a panel of five
judges to evaluate the lower court ruling and determine what
steps could be taken in regard to the regional election.
"But (even) if the panel of judges find flaws in the ruling,
we cannot do anything about it", he added.
The chief justice said there were "bad laws" and "good laws",
but stressed that in the case of the Depok mayoral election, the
regulation was binding.
The PKS has also taken the electoral dispute to the Judicial
Commission in the hope that it would help pave the way for the
review of the verdict against Nur Mahmudi.
Judicial Commission member Chatamar Rasjid said that if there
were any flaws in the court ruling, his body could issue a
warning to the judges, or suspend or dismiss them.
"We will soon evaluate the judges, and review the aspects that
have caused people dissatisfaction," he said.
The electoral dispute has sparked conflict between Golkar and
PKS supporters in Bandung, with both staging protests over the
past week.
On Wednesday, over 1,500 people from Golkar youth
organizations gathered in the West Java legislative council to
support the court ruling.
They urged the council to immediately submit a recommendation
letter to the home affairs minister, so that he could inaugurate
Badrul immediately.
Golkar protesters mocked PKS supporters, telling them to stop
their protests, and threatening that they would mobilize some
10,000 women wearing Islamic headdress to confront them.
"They say their party is clean and upholds the law. But
instead, they have held the supremacy of law in contempt," said
Johni Hidayat of the Siliwangi Youth Organization who is also a
Golkar councillor.
No PKS supporters in Bandung staged demonstrations on
Wednesday, but dozens of students from different universities
there strongly criticized the court's ruling.