SBY orders Golkar, PKS rift in Depok to be settled amicably

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has instructed Minister of Home Affairs M. Ma'aruf to seek ways to settle the Depok mayoral election dispute involving candidates from the Golkar Party and the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), the parties which constitute the main political base of his administration.

"The President specifically asked the minister to follow up, monitor and settle it in accordance with the law," presidential spokesman Andi Mallarangeng said on Saturday after a meeting between the President and several ministers and top security officials at Halim Perdanakusuma air base in East Jakarta upon arrival home from an overseas trip.

Tension has been abound after the Supreme Court annulled last week the ruling of the West Java High Court issued in August which awarded Golkar Party candidates Badrul Kamal and Syihabuddin Ahmad the election victory in the June 26 mayoral election in Depok, West Java. The high court's controversial decision was contested by PKS mayoral candidate Nur Mahmudi Nur Ismail and his running mate Yuyun Wirasaputra, whom the Depok General Elections Commission (KPUD) named as winner of the mayoral election.

On Sunday dozens of Badrul's supporters rallied to protest the Supreme Court decision. Wearing shirts and jackets from Golkar, the protesters gathered in front of the Depok municipality office on Jl. Margonda. Some of them delivered speeches and led the crowd in songs.

The supporters are expected to stage a rally at the Supreme Court and the Ministry of Home Affairs on Monday.

Ma'ruf, speaking separately, said that his office had yet to obtain a copy of the Supreme Court verdict.

"We need to read the verdict first. After that, there is a procedure to follow it up. The KPUD must inform the local council, which must extend it to the mayor. The mayor is required to inform the (West Java) governor and the minister of home affairs of the decision," Ma'ruf said.

Golkar Party camp was apparently disappointed with the Supreme Court's decision.

"The Supreme Court has issued a ruling mandating the authority to hear regional election dispute at the regency/mayoralty level to the high courts, whose verdicts are final and binding," Golkar senior member Akil Mochtar told detikcom news portal.

Law No. 32/2004 on regional elections rules that the Supreme Court may delegate the high court to settle election disputes at the regency/mayoralty level.

Chief Justice Bagir Manan acknowledged that the high court's ruling was final and binding, however, he said KPUD Depok was still allowed to seek a case review of the West Java High Court ruling via an extraordinary legal effort.

Vice President Jusuf Kalla, who also chairs the Golkar Party, said in Solok, West Sumatra, on Saturday that Golkar had always respected the law, but it did not necessarily mean that the party should accept the Supreme Court's decision.

He said that the right to either accept or reject the decision was in the hands of Badrul and his running mate Syihabuddin. "The one who must accept (the ruling) is not the party, but the candidate," he was quoted by Kompas online as saying.

Golkar is the largest party in the House of Representatives, while PKS is the only Islamic-oriented party supporting Susilo.

After the Depok election body announced the mayoral election result, Badrul filed a protest with the West Java High Court arguing that their candidates should have won the election since many of their supporters had been denied the opportunity to vote.

The high court approved it and pushed up Badrul's final vote tally to 269,551 at the expense of Nur Mahmudi's votes that decreased to 204,828. Many observers questioned the ruling particularly the court's assumption that those who did not vote would automatically vote for Badrul.