PKS takes legal action against W. Java High Court
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta, Bandung
The Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) has taken formal legal action against the West Java High Court's ruling in which it decided to overturn an initial victory for the PKS candidate Nur Mahmudi Ismail in the Depok mayoral election.
Accompanied by his campaign manager and legal team from the PKS, Nur Mahmudi reported the electoral dispute to the Judicial Commission on Tuesday in a bid to have the ruling overturned.
"We are coming here to report the 'abnormal' behavior of the judges when issuing the verdict. We will report this to the Judicial Commission," Nur Mahmudi said on his arrival at the commission's office in Jakarta.
In addition, the PKS and the Depok district election commission and the West Java provincial election commission have also decided to file a request with the Supreme Court to review the ruling.
"We truly respect the legal process. That's why we've reported this case to the home affairs minister, the Supreme Court and the Judicial Commission.
"We hope these improprieties can be fixed. Otherwise, it will become a bad precedent for certain parties wanting to file a lawsuit against regional election results," said Nur Mahmudi as quoted by Antara.
He added that he was not hungry for power, but was only looking for justice.
The dispute would be the first case handled by the Judicial Commission, whose seven members were inaugurated just last week by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. The body has not even selected its chairman yet, but has appointed Irawady Joenoes as acting chairman.
The West Java High Court last Friday annulled the victory of Nur Mahmudi in the June 26 election for Depok mayor, 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.
The court ruling drew protests from the PKS and many political analysts as it was based on evidence presented only by witnesses believed to be Badrul's supporters, while none of Nur Mahmudi's supporters were summoned to testify at the hearing.
Indra Perwira, an administrative law expert from Padjadjaran University in Bandung, said the West Java poll commission had appointed him and four lawyers to represent it in the legal battle at the Supreme Court, while the PKS had named senior lawyer Adnan Buyung Nasution to act on behalf of the party.
Indra said that reviewing the verdict was possible based on Law No. 4/2004 on the judicial affairs authority, particularly on Article 23 which stipulates that people can ask the Supreme Court to review a court ruling even though it is already final and binding.
"The ruling is final, which means it cannot be fought through conventional methods like normal appeals, but through an extraordinary way, which is a request for a Supreme Court's review," Indra explained during a radio talk show in Bandung.
The PKS, he said, would also provide new evidence to the West Java High Court because it had not heard testimony from witnesses that support PKS when handing down the controversial ruling.
Indra said it was now the Supreme Court's responsibility to make a breakthrough in settling the dispute wisely.
Meanwhile, West Java Governor Danny Setiawan denied allegations that he interfered in the West Java court's ruling which favored Badrul, his fellow Golkar member and the father of Danny's son in law.
"Who said that? I've never interfered. That's a legal matter," Danny said angrily.
The governor said the case should become a lesson for upcoming local elections in Bandung, Indramayu and Karawang, so that such bitter disputes could be prevented.