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.