Depok awaits new mayor

Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

Depok residents will have to wait until next month to find out who their new mayor is, with alleged electoral violations committed campaign teams and the regional elections commission (KPUD) still in the courts.

The inauguration of the city's first elected mayor, former forestry minister Nur Mahmudi Ismail and his deputy, Yuyun Wirasaputra, was initially scheduled for Friday.

However, the West Java High Court is expected to issue a ruling on the election on Aug. 2.

The delay was made based on the Depok Council's recommendation last week, councillor Arsyid Susanto said.

"We sent our recommendation to the Ministry of Home Affairs ... we included in the letter the documents of the election result from the Depok Elections Commission (KPU Depok)," he told The Jakarta Post on Friday.

Complaints mostly came from the camp of Badrul Kamal, of WHAT PARTY the runner-up in the mayoral election.

Badrul's spokesman, Muhammad Hasan, said the campaign team had submitted the alleged election violations of Nur Mahmudi's team and the KPUD Depok to the Cibinong District Court on July 11.

That court then handed over the cases to the Supreme Court in Jakarta who later authorized the West Java High Court to rule on them.

Badrul's camp alleges that the KPUD Depok created policies that favored Nur Mahmudi-Yuyun of the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), the largest political party in the municipality.

Hasan said the KPU Depok had illegally extended the voter registration period, which could have given non-residents the chance to register.

"Our camp found that there were many non-Depok residents who took part in the mayoral election," he said.

Hasan also believed fake voting cards were circulated in several areas, allowing people to vote more than once.

He said Nur Mahmudi's supporters had also circulated political leaflets on the eve of the election, something forbidden in the official "cooling-off" period in the days before the vote.

Hasan said the pamphlets denied accusations the former minister was involved in corruption over the procurement of two helicopters by the forestry ministry in 2001.

Badrul's case fingers Nur Mahmudi campaign secretary-general Soeripto as the prime suspect.

The West Java High Court has carried out hearings regarding the election complaints since July 20. It is expected to issue its verdict on no later than Aug. 2 as trials on election complaints must be completed within 14 working days.

Vote counting showed the Nur Mahmudi-Yuyun ticket won the Depok election, defeating four other pairs -- former Depok mayor Badrul and running mate Syihabuddin, Abdul Wahab-Ilham Wijaya, Harun Heryana-Farkhan A.R., and Yus Ruswandi-Soetadi Dipowongso.