Poll contenders lose at court

JAKARTA: Losing candidates in the gubernatorial elections in Bengkulu and Riau Islands were defeated on Tuesday as the Supreme Court rejected their challenge to the poll results due to lack of evidence.

In the first case, a panel of five justices presided over by Paulus E. Lotulung ruled that Sudirman Ail and his running mate, Syahrir AB, failed to prove their claim that they had won enough votes to contest a run-off, scheduled for next month.

The Bengkulu General Elections Commission (KPUD) has announced that the tickets of Agusrin Najamudin/Syamlan and Muslihan/Rio Capella are eligible for the run-off.

Earlier in the day, the court upheld the victory of Ismeth Abdullah and running mate Muhammad Sani in the election for the Riau Islands governor and deputy governor, at the expense of plaintiffs Nyat Kadir and Soerya Respationo.

The court ruled that evidence submitted by the plaintiffs was not related to their case. -- Antara