Jakarta verifies ballot tally, starts manual count
Eva C. Komandjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The Jakarta General Elections Commission (KPUD Jakarta) is currently verifying the results of the electronic ballot counting after the process was completed three days ago, while manual counting is now being conducted in five districts in Jakarta.
An IT expert of KPUD Jakarta, Riza Patria, said that right now the commission only able to publish approximately 94 percent of the electronic result while the rests were being verified.
"We can't say when we will publish the full results ... The data we have published is different from that issued by the national General Elections Commission (KPU) as it has published all the data it has received, even though it has yet to be verified," he said.
According to KPU data on the latest results for the Jakarta City Council (DPRD), the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) is projected to take 18 seats followed by the Democratic Party with 16 seats.
The 75 council seats at stake -- eight from Central Jakarta, 21 from East Jakarta, 16 from South Jakarta, 18 from West Jakarta and 12 from North Jakarta and the Thousands Islands -- are less than the 84 seats on the current City Council.
As for the ballot count for the House of Representatives (DPR), these two parties only managed to secure two seats each out of the 21 seats available for Jakarta.
According to the latest KPU data for the Regional Representatives Council (DPD) as of Thursday at 6 p.m., Mooryati Soedibyo was maintaining her lead with 442,066 votes while Sarwono Kusumaatmadja has obtained 431,350 votes.
Meanwhile, Biem Triani Benyamin was in third place with 340,478 votes, Marwan Batubara in fourth with 299,732 votes, and Bambang Warih Koesoema in fifth place with 280,506 votes.
Separately, the Central Jakarta District Court fined a Reform Star Party (PBR) politician Rp 1 million (US$117.6), to be substituted for by two months in jail in default of payment, for using a fake school diploma to run in the local legislative council election.
The sentence was in accordance with the prosecutors' recommendation. The defendant had been charged under the Election Law.
The court found that Dzikrullah Rojali paid Rp 1.5 million for a high-school diploma to a colleague identified as Aseli.
"I am really sorry," Dzikrullah told the court, which was presided over by Judge Sudrajat Diniyati.