Revote boycott puts Al-Zaytun in hot seat

Nana Rukmana, Indramayu

The Election Supervisory Committee (Panwaslu) said on Monday it was investigating a boycott of a presidential election revote at the Al-Zaytun Islamic boarding school in Indramayu regency, West Java.

The investigation will look into the possibility that the more than 11,500 registered voters at the school were pressured into boycotting the revote on Sunday, said the chairman of Panwaslu's Indramayu branch, Tatang Odjo Suardja.

"I have assigned personnel to conduct the investigation," he told The Jakarta Post.

He said a preliminary investigation indicated several irregularities behind the boycott at Al Zaytun, the largest Islamic boarding school in Southeast Asia.

The voters did not cast ballots in the election rerun because they did not receive instructions from school head A.S. Panji Gumilang to go to the polling stations, Tatang said.

"We discovered that the voters chose not to cast their ballots due to the absence of orders from the school leaders," he said.

Tatang said Panwaslu was looking into whether there was an active attempt by the leaders of the boarding school to foil the revote.

"We will try to find if the boycott was deliberately planned. If there are indications of this, we will ask the police to thoroughly investigate the matter," he said.

He said pressuring voters not to cast ballots in an election could be a jailable offense under the Election Law.

If anyone at Al-Zaytun was found guilty in this matter, they could be charged with violating Article 90(1) of Law No. 23/2003 on presidential elections, which carries a maximum punishment of three months in prison and a maximum fine of Rp 100 million (US$11,111).

"We hope to conclude the investigation within a week," Tatang said.

Indramayu Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Johni Suroto said he was prepared to launch a criminal investigation into the case if Panwaslu filed an official complaint.

"If there were violations, we will follow it up," he said.

There have been growing calls for the police to investigate the boycott, in which none of the more than 11,500 registered voters at the school turned up at the 39 polling stations set up outside the Al-Zaytun complex.

The Association of Legislative Council Speakers for Cirebon, Indramayu, Kuningan and Majalengka said that the police and prosecutors should begin probes into the boycott.

Association secretary-general Suryana said the boycott violated the Election Law and insulted the dignity of the government and nation.

"We urge the relevant authorities to investigate the case. Pressuring people not to vote is a crime. If this matter is ignored, the dignity of the state will be damaged," he said on Monday.

The revote was held following allegations of vote-rigging at the school during the July 5 presidential election.

The General Elections Commission (KPU) decided to invalidate the election results from the school because 24,818 people cast votes at Al-Zaytun despite the fact that there were only 11,000 registered voters at the boarding school.

Despite the no-show by voters on Sunday, the revote was declared valid by the KPU, which said the rerun election annulled the 24,818 votes cast at Al-Zaytun on July 5.