Too early to reject poll results: Major parties

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.