Wiranto alleges irregularities in July presidential elections
According to former general 5 million ballots are missing. Susilo-Megawati run-off now in doubt.
Jakarta (AsiaNews) Indonesia's Constitutional Court could invalidate the results of the July 7 presidential elections following a lawsuit filed by defeated candidate Wiranto who alleges irregularities during vote counting.
"The petitioner is of the opinion that there were mistakes in the vote count that caused him to lose support and as a result not enter the second round of the presidential elections," said Yan Djuanda Saputra, Wiranto's lawyer.
The lawsuit claims Wiranto lost 5,434,660 votes in 26 provinces during the vote count. Had he received all ballots cast for him his total result would have been 31,721,448 and not the recorded 26,286,788. The lawsuit seeks to "declare the election commission results invalid" and put Wiranto in second place in lieu of Megawati in the run-off against Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
Constitutional Court's chair Jimmly Asshidiqqie said that if the evidence submitted by Indonesia's former defence minister is accurate, the Court could declare the election results, officially announced on July 26, null and void.
Yudhoyono came in first in the July 7 election with 33.58% of the vote followed by Megawati with 26.29% and Wiranto with 22.21%.
Election Commission lawyer Amir Syamsuddin objected and said the appeal was full of "inaccuracies and misleading data." He added: "We are bewildered that this election, which has been so open and had so many observers, could be disputed."
A spokesperson for Megawati's Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) said it will call for a repeat of the first round of the presidential election if the Constitutional Court upholds Wiranto's lawsuit. PDI-P member AN Batubara worries that "if Wiranto won the lawsuit, it would have a huge impact on the country." Wiranto's victory could indeed lead to political uncertainty and provoke a violent backlash among Megawati supporters.
According to Wiranto's legal team other candidates engaged in vote buying and electoral fraud.
The Court's decision is not expected until nest week.
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14/10/2004
