Wiranto loses final shot at presidency

Wiranto loses final shot at presidency

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta

The Constitutional Court rejected on Monday a petition filed by
presidential candidate Wiranto, who was eliminated in the July 5
election, paving the way for a showdown between Megawati
Soekarnoputri and Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in the Sept. 20
runoff.

All nine Constitutional Court judges agreed unanimously to
throw out the petition after the Wiranto camp failed to show
convincing evidence to substantiate its claims that it lost 5.4
million votes.

"The court is of the opinion that the petitioner failed to
produce evidence to support his claims," said Constitutional
Court president Jimly Asshiddiqie.

Also on Monday, the Supreme Court dismissed Wiranto's petition
against a General Elections Commission (KPU) circular declaring
double-punched ballots valid.

Under the General Elections Law, double-punched ballots are
invalid, but the KPU made the last-minute decision upon
receiving an inordinate amount of double-punched ballots from
voters who had not opened the ballots fully before marking them.

"The circular is an internal letter from the central KPU to
regional KPU involving technical matters. It is not considered an
object of judicial review," said the verdict, a copy of which was
made available to The Jakarta Post.

Wiranto came in third with 22 percent of votes according to
the official tally, after Susilo with 33 percent and Megawati
with 27 percent.

The Golkar Party's presidential candidate filed a complaint in
late July with the court, alleging that double-punched ballots
and other polling irregularities had cost him votes and thus, a
place ahead of Megawati.

During the four-day hearing last week, Wiranto's lawyers were
unable to support the claims, prompting the judges to reprimand
them for telling lies.

Analysts had warned that a verdict favoring Wiranto could
throw the election process into chaos and spark violence from
supporters of Megawati and Susilo.

The Constitutional Court acknowledged that the KPU had
contributed to some irregularities during the July 5 election
that had affected all five candidates.

The ruling, which had been predicted by many experts, did not
appear to come as a shock for Wiranto's running mate Solahuddin
Wahid, who said they would accept and respect the decision.

"I honor the Constitutional Court's decision and I
congratulate Megawati. I hope the Sept. 20 runoff can be held in
a better fashion," the former deputy chairman of the National
Commission on Human Rights told dozens of reporters after the
verdict was read.

KPU member Hamid Awaluddin welcomed the ruling, as it enabled
the commission to start printing over 150 million ballot papers
for the runoff.

Printing has been delayed pending the ruling on Wiranto's
petition, as the ballot's design includes photographs of two
presidential candidates and their running mates.

"I will issue the order tonight. Hopefully, printing will
start tomorrow," Hamid said.

He added the commission would improve its performance to avoid
potential irregularities in the election runoff.

Wiranto's petition, however, has created political uncertainty
ahead of the runoff, as some political parties have yet to decide
whether to form a coalition to back a candidate, remain neutral
or establish an opposition party.

Meanwhile, Golkar chairman Akbar Tandjung said on Monday that
the meeting between Susilo's running mate Jusuf Kalla and 23
provincial party leaders had been undertaken without the
permission or knowledge of the central executive board.

The meeting with Kalla violated political ethics and an
executive board agreement, he said.

"Differences should be resolved through a leadership meeting
and we should each refrain (from politicking)," Akbar said.

Golkar is expected to hold a leadership meeting on Aug. 15 in
Jakarta to determine its political stance for the runoff.

Elsewhere, Megawati is scheduled to meet losing candidate
Amien Rais on Tuesday evening, while Susilo is to meet former
president and National Awakening Party (PKB) cofounder
Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid.