Court starts hearing electoral complaints

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta

A petition filed by the Prosperous Peace Party (PDS) against the General Elections Commission (KPU) over the results of the legislative election became the first electoral case to be heard by the Constitutional Court on Monday.

The PDS complained that the West Jakarta elections commission (KPUD Jakarta Barat) had given 2,400 of its votes, as certified by the Palmerah District Elections Committee (PPK), to the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS).

According to Marshall Saut Yusak of the PDS, the Palmerah PPK had stated that the PDS had won 4,115 votes. However, the West Jakarta KPUD had changed this to 1,715 during a commission plenary meeting following a protest from the PKS.

Due to the decision, the PDS had lost one seat on the Jakarta Council, he said. As things stand at the moment, the PDS has secured four seats on the Jakarta Council, while the PKS has taken 16.

"We expect the court to annul the decision," Yusak said.

The KPU, however, insisted that the case should not have been brought before the court, arguing that the Election Supervisory Committee (Panwaslu) was responsible for alleged electoral violations at the district and regental/municipality levels.

"This case should not be have been brought to the Constitutional Court at all," said KPU lawyer Amir Syamsuddin. He was accompanied by high-profile lawyer Deny Kailimang.

Under its establishing legislation, the Constitutional Court is given the task of resolving electoral disputes.

Meanwhile, the head of West Jakarta KPU, Sjahrir Lumban Toruan, told the court that the Palmerah PPK had made a mistake in giving the votes to the PDS.

"We recounted the ballot papers after PKS representatives protested the tally during a plenary meeting of the West Jakarta KPUD. We found that 2,400 votes that should have gone to the PDS were wrongly given to the PDS," he said.

Sjahrir said that all representatives from other parties, including one from the PDS, had approved the change. The next day, a member of the PDS protested against the change to the West Jakarta KPUD, Sjahrir said.

"The protest is not valid as it was made outside the plenary meeting and not submitted by the party representative who attended the meeting," he said.

Justice I Dewa Palaguna, who presided over the judicial panel of three justices, adjourned the hearing until Tuesday to hear testimony from PKS members and examine the evidence.

The court is expected to hand down its decision on the case within one or two days. Although the case is being heard by a panel of three justices, the decision will be made by the nine justices on the court.

The Constitutional Court has accepted a total of 131 cases challenging the results of the legislative election as issued by the General Elections Commission (KPU).

Twenty-two of these were filed by political parties, one by an alliance of political parties and the rest by candidates for the Regional Representatives Council from all across the country.

The resolution of electoral disputes through a legal process represents a new departure in Indonesia, and has been made possible following last year's establishment of the Constitutional Court, which has been given the jurisdiction to hear, among other cases, electoral and impeachment disputes.

The decision of the Constitutional Court in such cases is final and conclusive.