Golkar back in power at House

Golkar back in power at House

Moch. N. Kurniawan and Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta

The General Elections Commission (KPU) announced on Wednesday the
results of the legislative election, with former president
Soeharto's Golkar Party returning to power in the House of
Representatives with 128 of 550 seats.

The victory was a reversal of fortune for Golkar, which lost
to the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) in the
1999 elections, the first time it had been out of power since
1970.

Megawati Soekarnoputri's PDI-P finished behind Golkar with 109
seats, down from the 153 seats it won in 1999. The United
Development Party (PPP) won 58 seats to finish third, similar to
its showing in the 1999 elections.

However, the election results, announced during a plenary
session of the KPU, were signed by only 10 of the 24 parties that
contested the polls.

Those parties that signed the results were the PPP, the United
Democratic Nationhood Party (PPDK), the Democratic Party, the
National Mandate Party (PAN), the Concern for the Nation
Functional Party (PKPB), the PDI-P, the Prosperous Peace Party
(PDS), the Pancasila Patriots' Party and Golkar.

An alliance of 14 parties refused to accept the results, with
some parties filing lawsuits with the Constitutional Court.

Earlier in the day, National Awakening Party (PKB) patron
Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid, Freedom Bull National Party (PNBK)
leader Eros Djarot, Marhaenisme Indonesian National Party (PNI)
leader Sukmawati Soekarnoputri arrived at KPU's headquarters to
announce that they would not accept the election result.

Gus Dur said the amount of questionable practices surrounding
the vote made it impossible for the legislative election to be
considered legitimate.

"The dirty practices in the 2004 elections will only result in
an illegitimate government," he said.

The upstart Democratic Party, with presidential candidate Gen.
(ret) Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono as its main vote getter, finished
the elections in fourth position with 57 seats, followed by the
PKB with 52 seats (51 seats in 1999).

The National Mandate Party also won 52 seats, an increase from
its 34 seats in the 1999 elections, followed by the Prosperous
Justice Party (PKS) with 45 seats, a dramatic increase from the
seven seats in won in 1999.

Golkar received 24,480,757 votes, followed by the PDI-P with
21,026,629 votes, the PKB with 11,998,564, the PPP with
9,248,764, the Democratic Party with 8,455,255, the PKS with
8,325,020 votes and PAN with 7,303,324 votes.

The PPP and the Democratic Party won more seats in the House
than the PKB despite receiving fewer votes because most of the
PKB's votes were concentrated in the East and Central Java
electoral districts.

PAN also obtained more seats in the House than the PKS despite
receiving fewer votes.

Of 148,000,369 registered voters, 124,420,339 people (84.06
percent) cast ballots in the April 5 elections. There were
113,462,414 valid ballots (76.66 percent) and 10,957,925 invalid
ballots (8.81 percent).

In the 1999 elections, out of 118,217,393 registered voters,
105,786,630 people cast valid ballots and 3,641,546 invalid
ballots.

Meanwhile, KPU chairman Nazaruddin Sjamsuddin said not all of
those political parties rejecting the poll results had filed
complaints with the Constitutional Court.

"So far, we have been notified of only four cases that will be
brought to the Constitutional Court," he said. "Those cases refer
to North Sumatra electoral district 2, the Riau islands, Papua
and West Irian Jaya."

He said parties that refused to sign the election results
would be barred from registering presidential and vice
presidential candidates from June 6 to June 12.

The Prosperous Peace Party (PDS), the Freedom Bull National
Party and the Democratic Party became the first parties to
challenge the election results in court when they filed a
complaint with the Constitutional Court on Wednesday.

PDS representatives filed a complaint against the General
Elections Commission for allegedly annulling the party's votes in
five electoral districts without sufficient evidence.

"It is about the right we have to protect," said Abraham
Larobu, who heads the PDS branch in West Jakarta. The complaint
was signed by the party's executive board.

Oka Mahendra, the secretary-general of the court, said the
court would remain open 24 hours a day until 2 p.m. on Saturday
to register complaints by political parties and Regional
Representative Council candidates over the election results.