Hundreds demand answers to allegations of fixed election

Wahyoe Boediwardhana, The Jakarta Post, Denpasar, Bali

Around 700 people staged a protest here on Tuesday to demand that the Bali legislative council and the central government postpone swearing in the reelected governor of the resort island, following allegations of bribery during the gubernatorial election.

"We ask President Megawati Soekarnoputri not to turn a blind eye and deaf ear to this problem," protest coordinator Nyoman Sunartha said.

Sunartha, who also chairs the Bali chapter of the Indonesian Hindu Youth Association (PHI), had earlier filed a civil suit at the Denpasar Administrative Court urging it to revoke the electoral result.

In response, the court issued a letter on Aug. 15, ordering the council to postpone the inauguration of governor-elect Dewa Made Beratha until the legal process of the case was completed.

The protesters, who arrived in at least 40 cars, swiftly entered the council building, demanding a direct meeting with council speaker Ida Bagus Putu Wesnawa, who is also chairman of the Bali chapter of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan).

Unfortunately, Wesnawa had left for Jakarta, and the protesters were instead received by four PDI councillors -- I Gusti Ngurah Gde Surya, Beratha Wiryadana, Made Poniti and Wayan Sutika.

With the blatant backing of PDI Perjuangan and party chairwoman Megawati, Beratha won the gubernatorial election on Aug. 6, garnering 31 out of 55 votes.

Several days later, PDI Perjuangan councillors Pande Gde Soebratha and Wayan Nuastha admitted that they and their colleagues had been coerced by the party's top executives to vote for Beratha. In return, each of them were to be given Rp 150 million.

"At around 3 a.m. on Aug. 6, PDI Perjuangan-Bali treasurer I.B. Manuaba and party faction treasurer Beratha Wiryadana entered my room and gave me a traveler's check worth Rp 50 million. The rest of the payback is be given after the election," Nuastha said.

Gde Surya admitted that all 39 members of the PDI Perjuangan faction had received traveler's checks.

However, he said the money was not intended to bribe them, as it was to used to finance consolidation efforts ahead of the 2004 general elections.

Earlier, the PDI Perjuangan faction had issued a similar denial. Faction chairman Usdek Maharipa claimed the money came from the coffers of the party's central board and that Dewa Beratha had absolutely nothing to do with it.

Disappointed, the protesters then forced the councillors to sign a letter in support of their request for the postponement of Beratha's inauguration. Poniti and Sutika agreed to give their signatures, but Surya and Wiryadana refused to do the same.

After Surya and Beratha left at the escort of police officers, the protesters dispersed gradually at around 12:30 p.m.