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Jilted Candidates File Complaint Against KPU
Farouk Arnaz & Camelia Pasandaran | September 08, 2009

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Fifteen legislative candidates filed a criminal complaint on Monday accusing Indonesia's General Elections Commission of having breached the law by dropping their names from the list of elected candidates.

“The [commission] breached the election and criminal laws when they officially announced the results of the April 9 legislative elections on Sept. 3, disqualifying us,” Dedy Djamaludin Malik, a legislator from National Mandate Party (PAN), told reporters after filing the complaint.

The group claimed the commission, also known as the KPU, did not correctly apply the complicated formula used to allocate legislative seats.

He said the KPU should have honored a decision from the Constitutional Court, but instead abruptly dropped candidates from the list of legislators.

He said others dropped from the list were Syahril, Farouk Sunge, Azary and Jurmaini Syakur, all from the People’s Conscience Party (Hanura); Marisa Haque from the United Development Party (PPP); Edy Sutrisno from the National Awakening Party (PKB); and Suhardi and Sapto Murtiono from Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra).

“It’s not because we felt unsatisfied that we lost our seats, but because the commission has breached the law and it is criminal,” Farouk said, adding that he hoped the police would summon the KPU commissioners for questioning in the case.

On Wednesday, the Elections Supervisory Board (Bawaslu) warned the KPU to be careful in calculating the legislative seat allocations.

However, one board member, Bambang Eka Cahya Widodo, later said that Bawaslu had already discovered mistakes in the KPU’s seat allocations.

As many as 115 candidates from the Democratic Party, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Stuggle (PDI-P) and the Golkar Party had earlier said they would challenge the result, but experts on state law suggested that the politicians stood no chance to win a legal battle as the Constitutional Court’s rulings are considered final and binding.

KPU member I Gusti Putu Artha said the commission would respect any legal challenge from the 115 candidates.

“It is their right to report us,” Putu said. “We give ample chances for them to go through legal channels if they are not satisfied with the election result. We’re ready to face it.”

Putu contended the body has been very careful in implementing the ruling of the Constitutional Court.

“Our caution has been characterized in the media as consulting too closely with the court,” he said.

“Actually, we don’t want to come up with our own interpretation,” Putu said. “The Constitutional Court has approved our method for allocating the House seats.”