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.