Wiranto scrambles for evidence

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta

Lawyers for presidential candidate Wiranto scrambled on Tuesday to present solid evidence to back up claims their client lost some 5.4 million votes in the July 5 election.

Constitutional Court judges, who had planned to hold a marathon hearing on Tuesday, adjourned the session until Wednesday just four hours after it began because Wiranto's lawyers were unable to produce convincing evidence.

Wiranto filed a complaint with the court last week, claiming he lost 5.4 million votes due to irregularities in the vote count for the election.

Under the Presidential Election Law, the Constitutional Court must resolve election disputes within two weeks after they are filed.

A panel of five judges adjourned the session after a four-hour debate between Wiranto's lawyers and legal counsel for the General Elections Commission (KPU) in a hearing designed to examine evidence from the petitioner.

Judge Maruarar Siahaan, who led the panel, told Wiranto's lawyers that the court would review their claim only if they could provide solid evidence.

"According to the law, the court must compare evidence from the petitioner with that from the KPU. Evidence means written documents about the election results on which we will rule whether the claim is strong or not," Siahaan said.

The petitioner's lawyers, however, insisted that the court should not only review written documents but also consider legal arguments on possible violations during the vote count.

But when lawyers representing the KPU challenged them to produce compelling evidence, Wiranto's lawyers said they left the evidence in their office and would present it at the next hearing.

Deny Kailimang, a KPU lawyer, regretted the failure of Wiranto's side to present their evidence during the hearing.

"They told the media that they have loads of evidence, so how could they fail to produce it?" he asked.

Under the Election Law, the court will make its decision by comparing written documents on the election results submitted by the petitioner with those from the KPU, which organized the election.

The official results of the presidential election were announced on July 26, with Wiranto finishing third with 26.2 million votes, trailing Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono with 38.8 million votes and Megawati Soekarnoputri with 31.5 million.

If their claim is proven true, Wiranto would finish second behind Susilo and thus qualify for the election runoff on Sep. 20.

In another hearing, a panel of three judges heard a number of claims that Wiranto lost millions of votes in Java, Bali and West Nusa Tenggara. Most of the claims, however, were not backed up with hard evidence.

Wiranto lawyer Albert Sagala told the court they found it difficult to obtain copies of written documents on election results from the regional General Elections Commissions.

KPU lawyer Amir Syamsuddin told the court that none of Wiranto's election witnesses objected to the election results at the poll station, district, provincial or national levels.

A number of supporters of Megawati Soekarnoputri, including Indonesia Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) legislator Firman Jaya Daeli, looked visibly pleased with the hearing.