Ministry refuses to inaugurate Badrul

Ministry refuses to inaugurate Badrul

Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

More uncertainty reigned in Depok local government on Sunday
after the Ministry of Home Affairs refused to inaugurate Badrul
Kamal as mayor after he won the election in the West Java High
Court early this month.

The West Java High Court declared Badrul winner of the Depok
election on Aug. 4 and set his inauguration by Aug. 28 at the
latest.

The Depok General Elections Commission (KPUD Depok), which
initially had declared Nur Mahmudi Ismail of the Prosperous
Justice Party (PKS) the winner of the election, has filed a case
review against what was supposed to be a final and binding
verdict with the Supreme Court.

Ministry of Home Affairs spokesman Ujang Sudirman said that
his office could not inaugurate Badrul, who was nominated by the
Golkar Party and the National Awakening Party (PKB) as the West
Java administration had not submitted any name to his ministry.

"How can we inaugurate anybody if we haven't even received an
official letter from the West Java governor Dany Setiawan," Ujang
told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.

Regulations stipulate the Depok General Elections Commission
(KPUD Depok) must notify the Depok Council of the election
result, which in turn is supposed to send a letter to Dany, who
passes it on to the Ministry of Home Affairs for inauguration.

"If we have a letter from the governor we can inaugurate the
proposed name," Ujang said.

Meanwhile, Depok Council deputy chairman Amri Yusra said the
council had never sent a letter to the governor about the
inauguration as it had decided to wait for the legal process to
be resolved.

"The KPUD and the council have not sent a letter to the West
Java governor. If there is any an inauguration then it will be
illegal. We will file a law suit against it," Amri, a PKS
legislator, said.

The PKS won the legislative election in Depok in 2004, winning
24.49 percent of total 722,225 party votes contested.

KPUD Depok announced on July 6 that Nur Mahmudi and running
mate Yuyun Wirasaputra had won the election with total vote of
232,610, compared to Badrul and running mate Syihabuddin Ahmad's
206,781 votes. Badrul filed a complaint against the result with
the West Java High Court on July 12.

The West Java High Court judges overturned the result last
Aug. 4, alleging that more than 60,000 of Badrul's supporters
were not able to cast their votes and that the PKS had illegally
inflated Nur Mahmudi's vote tally.

The court then decided that Bdrul should have received 269,551
votes, while Nur Mahmudi should have received only 204,828.

The Supreme Court said subsequently that the West Java Court's
ruling was final and binding although they said that they would
examine how the judges arrived at their decision.

PKS supporters have since protested the ruling while the KPUD
has filed a request for the Supreme Court to review the court
verdict.

Several Depok residents expressed confusion and disappointment
on Sunday over the prolonged uncertainly post-election.

"We don't know what is going on. Each official or expert has a
different opinion. It is very confusing. All we want to see is
Depok having a mayor so that the city can continue with its
development," Ibrahim Saad, a Depok-based businessman, told the
Post.

Ibrahim complained he had to cancel several business deals
worth billions of rupiah as his partners had wanted to wait and
see who would win the Depok election.

A trader in the city's Kemirimuka market, Yongki, said he
couldn't understand why the central government and the Supreme
Court could not quickly decide who should be mayor.

"I didn't vote for Badrul and I don't support him. But if the
court said that he is the winner then the government should
inaugurate him to avoid confusion. Let the PKS continue their
legal battle," he said.