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.