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S. Tangerang Finally Gets a Mayor
Arientha Primanita | March 25, 2011

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Airin Rachmi Diany is the new mayor of South Tangerang, the Constitutional Court ruled on Thursday, saying that the second round of voting had been largely free of poll violations.

As the ruling was read out, several of Airin’s supporters burst into cheers inside the courtroom.

The ruling put to bed a controversy that began in November after South Tangerang held its first elections since being named an autonomous city in 2008.

That election saw Airin, the sister-in-law of Banten Governor Ratu Atut Chosiyah, proclaimed the winner with just 1,055 more votes than her nearest rival, Arsid, a former subdistrict head of Serpong and Pamulang.

Arsid and his running mate, comedian Andre Taulany, challenged the results, citing rampant vote-buying, illegal campaigning and flawed voter lists. In December, the Constitutional Court ruled that there was “overwhelming” evidence to support the allegations against Airin and ordered a rerun for February.

Constitutional Court Chief Justice Mahfud M.D. said on Thursday that the judges had examined reports, including those pointing to indications of violations, from the General Elections Commission, the South Tangerang Elections Supervisory Committee and the South Tangerang Electoral Commission.

“The court has reached the decision that the second round of the vote had been conducted smoothly, even though there were reports of election violations,” Mahfud said during Thursday’s ruling. “They however did not significantly influence results of the votes. There was no evidence, this time around, that violations had been conducted on a massive scale, systematically and structurally.”

Following the ruling, Airin was all smiles, adding that she would focus on developing the city. “Our main focus will be the economy, education, health and infrastructure,” she said.