PKS reports poll officials for deception
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta/Yogyakarta
The Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) reported on Thursday two election supervisory officials to the National Police and accused them of giving false testimony at a court hearing held to settle the Depok mayoral election dispute.
PKS spokesman Yogo Pamungkas publicly claimed that two officials from the regional election supervisory committee (Panwasda) Yoyok Effendi and M. Hasan had given false statements during the hearing at the West Java High Court.
"Their testimonies were one of the reasons that we lost in court. We have evidence that both men were giving false testimony, when they told the judges about their assumptions, which were not based on real facts in the field," Yogo explained.
"We also have witnesses, most of them are local residents, that will challenge the statements of the two supervisory officials on the poll."
The police said that they would investigate the case as soon as possible.
The move is the latest effort by PKS in its fight against the ruling of the West Java High Court, which recently annulled the initial victory of PKS candidate Nur Mahmudi Ismail in West Java's Depok mayoral election, and instead declared Golkar Party candidate Badrul Kamal as the winner. The Court ruled that 27,782 votes had been incorrectly given to Nur Mahmudi, and 62,770 votes taken away from Badrul.
Many protested the controversial ruling, largely due to the their assumption that the court's decision was issued based solely on evidence presented by witnesses believed to be Badrul's supporters, while none of Nur Mahmudi's supporters were summoned to testify.
PKS and some experts have urged the Supreme Court to review the ruling, but Supreme Court Chief Justice Bagir Manan said on Wednesday that the High Court's ruling was final and binding.
While admitting there were "bad laws" and "good laws," people should respect them.
On Thursday, former PKS leader Hidayat Nurwahid, who is now Speaker of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), criticized Bagir's statement.
Hidayat said that as a legal institution, the Supreme Court should make a correction of those "bad laws."
"I don't understand what capacity Mr. Bagir was in when he made that statement, whether it was made in his capacity as Supreme Court chief or what. Regardless, the Supreme Court should have been able to correct the legal system because it's a mandate of reform," Hidayat said after opening the Anti-Corruption Summit at Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta.
Meanwhile, in favor to Bagir's statement, the Constitutional Court chief Jimly Asshiddiqie said that the West Java High Court's ruling was indeed final and was the last resort in the legal process.
"I have to stick with the statements of the Supreme Court chief. The Election Law stipulates that the high court's ruling is final and there are no other legal avenues beyond that," he told reporters in his office on Thursday.
He added that the high court was picked as the sole legal avenue to settle regional election dispute, with only one hearing, to prevent lengthy legal procedures in such disputes.
"Regional election cases are related to the continuity of governmental administrations, therefore, we imposed a speedy trial mechanism, which is compatible in many countries in the world."
PKS has the right to fight it, but Jimly said it would be a futile attempt because their requests would be rejected.