Tension up in Depok, poll result OK nears

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.