Tension up in Depok, poll result OK nears

Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Fearful that supporters of candidate Badrul Kamal were planning a mass demonstration, Depok residents were tense on Monday, the day before the announcement of the new mayor.

The police deployed on Monday over 100 officers to guard the office of the Depok Elections Commission (KPUD) on Jl. Raya Sawangan, where the winner of the June 26 election will be announced.

Dozens of police officers were also seen guarding the Depok Elections Monitoring Body on Jl. Kartini.

Armed riot police were ready to halt supporters of Badrul, who has threatened to boycott Tuesday's event.

According to data collected from six subdistricts, Nur Mahmudi Ismail garnered 203,846 of the vote of 583,458. Badrul came second with 181,040 votes.

Yusuf Trilis, a coordinator of the Election Care Society (Mapilu), said that the organization would mobilize 1,000 people for Tuesday's demonstration in front of the KPUD.

"The result should not be announced until the report on violations committed by supporters of Nur Mahmudi is followed up," he said.

Supporters of Nur Mahmudi were accused of distributing pamphlets during the cooling-off period, the content of which denied Mahmudi's involvement in alleged corruption committed when he was a forestry minister in 2000.

Meanwhile, member of the monitoring body Yoyo Effendy suggested the poll commission delay the announcement, saying that it should first respond to the complaints over the violations.

"We recorded violations committed by both the KPUD and the candidates' supporters. We will report the commission to the police if it ignores our complaints," Yoyo told The Jakarta Post on Monday.

He said the commission's decision to alter the list of eligible voters several days before election day was a violation of Presidential Decree No. 6/2005 on the election of regional leaders.

KPUD secretary Yuliman Ibrahim, however, said the commission would not delay announcing the result and there would be a mechanism for hearing complaints over the electoral process, but after the announcement.

According to the KPUD schedule, after the official announcement of the election result on Tuesday, the election body will hear complaints from July 7 to July 9.

The dispute resolution period is from July 10 to July 23.

The election result will be assessed by the Depok City Council from July 10 to July 24 and the West Java Governor is expected to endorse the election result on July 27. The inauguration of the first elected Depok mayor will take place on July 28 or July 29.