Trial resumes as Gus Dur, KPU ditches mediation
Urip Hudiono and M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta
The trial between former president Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid and the General Elections Commission resumed on Monday, after the two sides failed to reach an out-of-court settlement.
Gus Dur filed a lawsuit in May against the commission, the Indonesian Doctors Association (IDI) and the Ministry of Health, alleging that they introduced discriminatory requirements resulting in his disqualification from the July 5 presidential race.
The first hearing took place in May, when the judges asked the two parties to settle the dispute out of court.
In Monday's hearing at the Central Jakarta District Court, presiding judge Cicut Sutiarso officially announced that the court-brokered arbitration had failed, and the trial would proceed with the court hearing the plaintiff's charges and demands against the defendants.
Gus Dur's lawyer Ikhsan Abdullah said the health examination for presidential candidates, jointly drawn up by the KPU and the IDI in KPU ruling No. 36/2004, was discriminatory and constituted a human rights violation, while the cleric's disqualification breached Law No. 23/1992 on health.
The plaintiff also accused the Ministry of Health of consenting to the violation when it actually had the authority to handle to issue.
Gus Dur is seeking a whopping compensation of Rp 1 trillion (US$110 million) for nonmaterial losses and Rp 1,000 for material losses, as well as a public apology for three consecutive days in national print and electronic media.
The court was scheduled to hear the defendants' response to the charges, but instead the trial was adjourned until July 19, as the ministry's lawyer, Binus Manik, was not ready with his response in defense of his client.
In a related development, commission member Hamid Awaluddin dismissed Gus Dur's claim that six KPU members must resign for their alleged violations of several regulations related to the election.
"We are too busy working on more crucial matters related to the country's interests and have no time to comment on things that only reflect Gus Dur's eccentric behavior," Hamid told reporters.
Hamid also challenged the near-blind cleric to provide evidence to substantiate his claim that the KPU was biased toward a particular candidate and had manipulated election regulations to the advantage of the candidate.
Earlier, Gus Dur said in a news conference that KPU chairman Nazaruddin Syamsuddin, deputy chairman Ramlan Surbakti, members Hamid Awaluddin, Chusnul Marriyah, Anas Urbaningrum and Daan Dimara must resign from their posts and demanded the installment of fresh faces to replace them.
"Aside from manipulating the Elections Law, the KPU members in question should also be brought to court on corruption charges," he said.