Gus Dur retracts boycott threat

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.