Despite public disgust, city council OKs Sutiyoso vote

Ahmad Junaidi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Undeterred by public outcry, the City Council's election committee approved on Wednesday the result of the voting in the gubernatorial election and refused to examine the ballot papers, which were allegedly marked in code by supporters of Governor Sutiyoso.

Committee deputy chairman Ibnu Sumantri revealed that the committee would not make the marked ballots an issue as it did not violate election regulations.

"However, we will include the objection in our report to the home ministry," Ibnu, an army colonel from the Indonesian Military (TNI)/National Police faction, told reporters.

He said the committee rejected complaints on the election process from several non-governmental organizations (NGOs) as they did not provide any evidence to back their charges.

He claimed the result of the election was valid since it has been approved by 23 members of the 28-members committee or more than two thirds of the members and also agreed to by nine of 11 witnesses from the council's 11 factions.

Two factions, the National Mandate Party (PAN) and the Justice Party, have announced that they will not approve the election result due to irregularities, including the codes marked on the ballots papers. They said the writing of codes by certain councillors was proof of money politics.

Several NGOs have also voiced their rejection of the election results based on similar concerns. They rallied at the Ministry of Home Affairs, demanding the ministry annul the election results.

The activists said the individual coding on the ballot papers had violated the principal of secrecy, but the ministry seemed to ignored the demand.

Meanwhile, Jakarta Police chief Makbul Padmanegara was quoted by Antara as saying on Wednesday that they will investigate the accusations of money politics during the city's gubernatorial election on Sept. 11.

"The investigation could last one to two years," Makbul said after witnessing the transfer of the post of Bekasi Police chief from Deputy Sr. Comr. Djoko Susilo to Bachtiar Hasanuddin Tambunan.

Separately, legal expert Bambang Widjojanto suggested that the public or NGOs sue the election committee for conducting an election that violated election principles and good governance.

"It could be a class action suit or a citizens action. They could demand that the district court annul the election result," Bambang who was former chairman of the Legal Aid Institute (LBH), told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.

He asserted that the councillors who rejected an investigation, were involved in a conspiracy, saying it could not be solved in "the usual formal way."

A class action is a lawsuit which is filed by individuals while a citizens action is a lawsuit filed by NGOs.

Several class action lawsuits have been won by public, including consumers of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and pedicab drivers.

A citizens action suit has been filed by the Alliance of Independent Journalist (AJI) against the city administration for obstructing journalists' duty.

Councillor Audi I.Z. Tambunan of the Indonesian Democratic Party admitted on Tuesday that he and his fellow friends marked their ballots to conform with the party's central board directive to elect Sutiyoso.

"Everyone had his or her own code. The one with the bold H, was mine," Audi said.

Gubernatorial candidate, Mahfudz Djaelani, made a surprising confession last week although he later changed his statement.

Mahfudz,a travel agent for haj pilgrims, claimed last Friday that he had paid Rp 200 million to 40 councillors as a down payment for a total of Rp 2 billion if the councillors elected him as a governor.

"As a businessman, I want my money back. If not I would publicize their names," he told reporters.

Three days later, Mahfudz retracted his statement, saying the money was spent for dinner with the councillors.

During the election, Mahfudz only secured three votes while Sutiyoso who was backed by PDI Perjuangan chairwoman Megawati, got 47 votes. Other gubernatorial candidates were Edy Waluyo, Tarmidi Suhardjo, Marzuki Usman, Endang Darmawan and Ahmad Heryawan.