•    HOME   
•    NEWS   
•    BUSINESS   
•    INTERNATIONAL   
•    TECH   
•    SPORTS   
•    LIFE & TIMES   
•    OPINION   
•    MY JAKARTA   
•    BLOGS   

Four and a half months have passed since Indonesian voters chose their representatives in the April 9 legislative elections but on Wednesday the apparent winners were still not certain as to when they might officially be awarded their seats.

As its refusal to formally announce the results dragged on, the General Elections Commission (KPU) said it would do nothing until the Constitutional Court provided a legal written statement on the seat-allocation method to be used.

Andi Nurpatti, a member of the commission, said that although the court ruling was clear, her agency needed a written legal basis before it could resolve the different opinions of KPU members.

There are two opinions on the allocation method of the third stage of the vote count.

“We respect the differing opinions,” Andi said. “However, the court ruling and statement will be the basis of our decision on seat allocation.”

The KPU has three times delayed the announcement of legislative seat allocation. The first method it proposed for deciding seat allocation was challenged by rulings of both the Supreme Court and the Constitutional Court.

After that, KPU members then consulted legal experts as well as court judges to set up a new method.

On Tuesday, KPU Chairman Abdul Hafiz Anshary said what was needed from the Constitutional Court was a letter confirming the court-approved mechanism for seat allocation.

“We need written confirmation from the court stating that our method for allocating the seats is correct,” Hafiz said.

The request letter has been sent to the court.

Hafiz said waiting for the court’s written confirmation was one of the reasons why the KPU had not announced the seat allocation.

“We don’t want to misinterpret the court ruling,” he said.

The other reasons behind the delays are to allow for extra care allocating the seats so mistakes would not be made again and to wait for the result of revotes and recounts in some districts.

Election Supervisory Board (Bawaslu) member Bambang Eka Cahya Widodo said it was not necessary for the commission to receive a written statement from the Constitutional Court.

“The ruling is clear enough,” he said. “They should not delay declaring the allocation of seats for such a reason. It only needs consistency on their part to apply the court ruling.”

Bambang also reminded the KPU that it should take into account the short time left before the legislative inauguration.

“There is only a month to go,” he said. “Besides, there’ll be long holiday [Lebaran] in the near future, which may influence the effectiveness of the commission’s work.”

The new legislative members inauguration is scheduled for Oct. 1. Andi said that prior to the induction, the KPU would conduct orientation for new legislators in Jakarta on Sept. 29.

Hafiz said the commission has already decided the new members except for those from provinces in which districts have not finished conducting revotes and recounts.

“We didn’t delay the allocation, we decided last Friday,” he said. “What we haven’t done is announce the result.”

He said that the announcement would have to wait until the whole process of revotes and recounts is over and Constitutional Court has issued a final ruling on those districts.

Jeirry Sumampouw, national coordinator of the Indonesian Voter Committee, said that the KPU should no longer prolong the uncertainty and should announce the results soon.