PDI-P supporters run amok as candidate ruled ineligible

Jemris Fointuna, The Jakarta Post, Kupang

Hundreds of Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) supporters went on a rampage on Tuesday night in Manggarai, after their candidates for regent and vice regent were refused registration by the local General Elections Commission (KPU). Their candidacy was rejected because they had missed the registration deadline.

The angry masses hurled stones and vandalized the Manggarai Council building. Later on, they marched to the nearby Manggarai KPU building but were prevented from entering the building's compound by hundreds of police and military personnel.

Despite warnings, the protesters pushed forward towards the security personnel, prompting some security personnel to fire warning shots into the air. No fatalities or injuries were reported during the incident that lasted until Tuesday midnight. A day later, the situation in Manggarai regency has returned to normal, although some PDI-P supporters are still assembled in groups in certain parts of the city.

Stunned by the rampage, the chief of East Nusa Tenggara KPUD Robinson Ratukore said that the Manggarai KPUD had to take a stance in response into the mob's demands.

Ratukore argued that the Manggarai KPUD should have bowed to protester's demand, and reopen registration for the regent and vice regent candidates in the run up to the Manggarai regental elections.

He said that Manggarai KPUD rejected the candidacy based on Government Decree No. 6/2005 on the election of heads of regional governments. However, this government decree had been revised by a subsequent decree No. 17/2005 that brought a lot of changes, including to the format of registration forms.

"On this basis, the registration has to be reopened to establish fairness in the run up to the Manggarai election," Ratukore told The Jakarta Post in Kupang, the capital of East Nusa Tenggara, on Wednesday.

The Manggarai KPUD opened the registration for candidates running in the regental elections on April 28 and closed it Wednesday last week.