Too early to reject poll results: Major parties

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja and Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Major parties said on Sunday it was too early to reject the results of the April 5 elections and called on the public to remain calm while waiting for the manual count.

Asserting that any statement rejecting the election results would only spark confusion among the public, the parties suggested that any disputes over the poll results be settled in the Constitutional Court.

"A previous statement (rejecting the polls) was simply a wake- up call for the General Elections Commission (KPU) to deal with any fraud in the vote counting," National Awakening Party (PKB) leader Alwi Shihab told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.

He said the PKB as a party had not taken an official stance regarding the election results. He said the PKB's stance on the issue should be formed through the party's mechanisms, not on an individual's wishes.

"We know we have to wait for the manual count, and should we be dissatisfied we will go to the Constitutional Court," Alwi said.

The manual counting will be used by the KPU to determine the official results of the legislative election, which will be announced at the end of the month.

A similar opinion was voiced by Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) leader Hidayat Nurwahid, who said the party was not in a position to reject the election results.

"Whether we accept or reject the results will require further discussion, but we have to criticize the ongoing tabulation," Nurwahid said.

Both party leaders denounced a joint statement from several party leaders who gathered here on Saturday to reject the election results because of alleged vote rigging. Claiming to represent 19 of the 24 parties that contested the elections, including the United Development Party (PPP) and the Democratic Party, they called for a revote.

PKB chief patron Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid and PKS executive Fachri Hamzah were among the participants of the meeting.

Both Hidayat and Alwi said that those people involved issued the statement not in the capacity as party representatives.

Despite the protest, KPU continued the computerized vote counting, which saw Golkar Party take over the lead from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) with 15,540,612 votes or 20.47 percent of over 75.9 million votes counted nationwide as of 10:30 p.m. on Sunday. PDI-P was second with 15,388,773 votes, followed by PKB, PPP and the Democratic Party.

KPU members Hamid Awaluddin asked that all parties wait for the results of the manual ballot count before deciding whether to accept or reject the election results. He added KPU had invited leaders of the parties to a meeting on Tuesday to resolve any misunderstandings over the computerized ballot count.

Presidential hopeful Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, the patron of the Democratic Party, called on the KPU to resolve the ongoing dispute over the ballot count, but underlined that his party would respect the ongoing tabulation process.

"The KPU should respond to the criticism but should there be problems, they should be handled through the proper mechanisms," he said as quoted by Antara.

Golkar party executive Slamet Effendy Yusuf said the criticism reflected that some politicians could not accept their parties' failure to meet pre-election targets.

"It should be kept in mind that official results are based on the manual count. Any statements rejecting the election results will only confuse the public," Slamet said.

PDI-P's deputy secretary-general, Pramono Anung, said the party would wait for the results from the manual count, but underlined that it would accept whatever the results were.

He reminded people that the computerized tabulation was only meant to satisfy the public's demand for real-time information on the results of the elections.

Separately, a group of scholars and leaders of 20 religious institutions regretted the decision by some politicians to reject the election outcome.

"This will only create panic, destroy democracy and disrupt the unity of the country," Azyumardi Azra, the rector of Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University, said during a press conference.