Gafur wins lawsuit against minister

JAKARTA: The Jakarta Administrative Court accepted on Friday a lawsuit by former president Soeharto's aide Abdul Gafur, who wants his name included on the list of gubernatorial candidates for North Maluku.

The panel of judges, presided over by Eddy Nurjono, also ordered Minister of Home Affairs Hari Sabarno to postpone the gubernatorial election in the province.

Gafur, who once served as youth and sports minister in Soeharto's regime, submitted the lawsuit on Oct. 21 to protest a decree issued three days earlier by the home affairs minister.

Through the decree, the minister decided on three pairs of gubernatorial and vice gubernatorial candidates in North Maluku: Thaib Armayin/Yamin Tawari, Sudjud Suradjuddin/Madjid Abdullah and Thaib Armayin/Madjid Abdullah.

Gafur and his running mate Mudafar Syah were not included on the list despite the fact that they were nominated by the United Development Party (PPP) and approved during a plenary session of the provincial legislative council.

The government annulled Gafur's victory in last year's gubernatorial election because of allegations of money politics. The case is being investigated by the National Police. --JP