Indonesian Presidential Election Hinges on Graft-Battered Court
Jakarta. The single-digit difference between the votes for the two candidates in last week's presidential election, coupled with the increasingly litigious posturing by both sides, has made it all but inevitable that the official results
, set to be announced on July 22, will be disputed at the Constitutional Court.
But with the court still reeling from the arrest and subsequent life sentence for its chief justice, Akil Mochtar, in a corruption case, doubts have emerged about the independence of any decision to be handed down with regard to the presidential election results.
The camp of Joko Widodo, who according to eight of 12 pollsters won the July 9 ballot by a margin of around 54 percent to 48 percent for Prabowo Subianto, says it has tabulated the data, and "the results are clear."
"If there is a substantial difference between the official count the results of the quick counts that we believe to be credible, then we will [challenge the official tally]," Sirra Prayuna, a lawyer for Joko's team, said on Wednesday at a meeting at the Constitutional Court that was also attended by representatives from Prabowo's camp.
"If we lose, we will file a suit," Habiburokhman, a member of Prabowo's legal team, said after the meeting. "We will report to the court our findings of structured, systematic and massive practices of vote-buying, as well as the snatching of C1 forms and allegedly partisan polling officers in a number of regions."
The C1 form is filled out by each polling station at the end of voting, to keep a written tally of the votes for each candidate, as well as the voter turnout and the number of invalid ballots. It is meant to prevent ballot-stuffing further along in the vote-counting process, although observers warn that it is prone to being doctored or manipulated to cover up ballot-stuffing attempts.
The General Elections Commission (KPU) is expected to issue the final results of the ongoing vote count by next Tuesday, and the Constitutional Court has given both camps until the following Friday, July 25, to file any disputes to the KPU's findings.
The court then has a deadline of Aug. 22 by which to rule on all the disputes, before the new president is sworn in on Oct. 20.
Court on trial
A year earlier, the prospect of the Constitutional Court passing a fair and balanced ruling on such a critical matter would not have caused much of a stir. But the court's reputation has taken a huge hit since its chief justice, Akil, was arrested in early October last year on accusations of taking bribes in exchange for favorable rulings in at least two local elections disputes.
He was subsequently tried, and was last month sentenced to life in prison by the Jakarta Anti-Corruption Court for taking Rp 60 billion ($5.1 million) in bribes in 15 regional election disputes handled by the Constitutional Court. He was also convicted of laundering more than Rp 100 billion since 2002.
The sentence was the heaviest ever handed down in a corruption case.
"The Akil incident was admittedly a traumatizing experience, but it was an individual case," says Irman Putra Sidin, a constitutional law expert.
"There is no proof of it being institutional," he adds.
He says that while people may doubt the court's ability to pass a fair ruling, "they must not dwell too much on these concerns."
He also dismisses worries about a potential conflict of interest among the panel of nine constitutional justices, given that two of them, including the new chief justice, were previously members of political parties that are currently part of Prabowo's coalition.
Chief Justice Hamdan Zoelva was a senior member of the Crescent Star Party (PBB) from 1999 to 2010, while Justice Patrialis Akbar chaired the National Mandate Party (PAN) at the House of Representatives from 2004 to 2009 period.
The PAN's current chairman, Hatta Rajasa, is Prabowo's running mate.
"Almost all state officials have party associations, even the president [Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono] with the Democratic Party," Irman says.
"But that doesn't mean that the public shouldn't trust the president in what he does. Political party affiliations should not be a reason for distrust; that would be an insult to the Constitution."
No other choice
Jimly Asshiddiqie, the Constitutional Court's chief justice from when it was established in 2003 until 2008, agrees that people need to maintain their trust in the court, despite the justices' past party links.
"Some justices' past affiliations with certain parties may indeed create a problem, but they're professionals now," he says.
"Besides, after the Akil case, they surely wouldn't want to be accused of political maneuvering. The court will try to stay clean, and will surely work on restoring its reputation."
But Jimly says this does not get the court off the hook, and urges people to remain alert for any possible foul play in the hearings on the election disputes.
Siti Zuhro, a political scientist from the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), says the current impasse over who really won the presidential election, and the prospect of having the Constitutional Court decide once and for all, makes for a "most difficult" time in Indonesia's democracy.
She cites the public's loss of trust in the court, coupled with a deeply polarized society after a high-stakes election campaign in which tensions have still not abated, even after voting day.
She agrees, though, that there is no other choice but to trust the court, the only institution authorized to rule on election disputes and the "last bastion of Indonesia's democracy."
"We don't want any riots, we don't want conflicts that lead to violence. So if there are any alleged violations, then settle it through legal channels; don't take the matter in your own hands," Siti says.
"The Constitutional Court is still highly regarded for its justice, transparency and accountability."
She adds, though, that aside from putting faith in the court, the public must also safeguarding the process, and encourages non-partisan individuals to volunteer and keep a close watch on the whole vote-counting process and the subsequent legal challenges and rulings.
"This is what we can do as members of the public: to safeguard the process, in a civilized and dignified manner," Siti says.
"Don't safeguard by delegitimizing the authorized institutions by claiming that they can't be trusted."
She also calls on both candidates to take the initiative to help "cool down" their supporters instead of inciting hostility against the rival camp, by setting a good example of being gracious in defeat should the KPU and the Constitutional Court find in favor of the other.
"What we need is an atmosphere of peace," Siti says.
Yudhoyono, meanwhile, has called on the court to ensure transparency in its legal process, while reminding the public to give the court "time and opportunity" to settle all possible challenges in a responsible manner.
"National security is very important, and so is social harmony," Yudhoyono said in a speech on Monday.
"We've seen how the people in Thailand have become divided because of years of conflict. Once divided, it's not easy to reunite. The process can take years."
Posted by: "Sunny" <ambon@tele2.se>
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