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

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.