Gus Dur retracts boycott threat
Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta
Disqualified presidential aspirant Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid ate his own words on Sunday, saying that he would not ask his followers to boycott the presidential election, an about face from his previous call to stay away from the polls.
He, however, vowed to continue the fight against what he and many experts and activists consider discrimination against disabled people in the country.
"I want to make it clear now... if I had previously asked my supporters not to vote in the presidential polls because the KPU discriminated against me, now I won't ask them to do so even though I am now standing outside the system. I'm not going to go against God's will," Gus Dur told a press conference at the National Awakening Party (PKB) headquarters in Kalibata, East Jakarta, on Sunday.
"But I will continue my fight through legal means. Tomorrow (Monday) I will file a suit against the KPU, demanding the commission pay Rp 1 trillion (US$110 million) in damages, and also file a criminal lawsuit against it," he said.
The KPU issued Decree No. 36/2004 on Saturday on presidential and vice presidential candidates eligible for the country's first ever direct presidential election on July 5.
They were Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Jusuf Kalla from the Democratic Party, Wiranto and Solahuddin Wahid from the Golkar Party, Amien Rais and Siswono Yudohusodo from the National Mandate Party (PAN), Megawati Soekarnoputri and Hasyim Muzadi from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), and Hamzah Haz and Agum Gumelar from the United Development Party (PPP).
Gus Dur, who picked Marwah Daud Ibrahim from the Golkar Party as his running mate, was disqualified due to his poor eyesight.
"I hope the Election Supervisory Committee (Panwaslu) will ask the KPU to delay the election, pending the settlement of the dispute between me and the KPU," Gus Dur said.
PKB executive Arifin Junaidi, who accompanied Gus Dur in the press conference, said the PKB would hold a plenary meeting on Wednesday to talk about possible moves following the KPU's decision.
According to Arifin, the PKB was considering several options in relation to around 12 million votes the PKB garnered in the April 5 legislative election. He did not go into details.
In the April 5 legislative election, PKB won the third largest number of votes after Golkar and PDI-P. Most of PKB's supporters are also members of the country's largest Muslim organization Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), which has around 40 million followers.
Separately, Panwaslu held a hearing on Sunday to respond to a petition filed by Gus Dur over his disqualification from the presidential race.
Panwaslu member Topo Santoso said the team had decided to invite the disputing parties to a hearing on Tuesday to exchange arguments.
"We are responding to this dispute immediately after learning that the KPU might have been unfair when issuing the decree. We know that the KPU has set 20 requirements that each presidential and vice presidential has to meet," he said.
"The KPU issued a decree regarding candidates' state of health and we (the Panwaslu) are wondering why the commission did not issue decrees for other requirements for presidential candidates. Was the move intended to block certain candidates from running in the election?," Topo told The Jakarta Post.
Aside from health, other qualifying criteria for presidential and vice presidential candidates include educational qualifications, conduct, and the absence of a criminal record.