Nana Rukmana, Indramayu – More than 11,500 voters from the Al-Zaytun Islamic boarding school boycotted the presidential election revote on Sunday, but committee officials declared the poll results valid, while observers called for a criminal investigation into the matter.
No voters had shown up to cast ballots by the 1 p.m. deadline. Thirty-nine polling stations had been set up outside the school complex in Indramayu, West Java.
Indramayu election commission member Agung Mardiyanto said Sunday's poll annulled the 24,818 votes cast during the July 5 election at Al-Zaytun, the largest Islamic boarding school in Southeast Asia.
"With the revote results, none of the five presidential pairs get votes. The rerun is valid. All witnesses and campaign teams of the presidential candidates have approved it," Agung said.
General Elections Commission (KPU) member Anas Urbaningrum and West Java poll committee official Fery Kurnia Rifkiansyah, who both witnessed the revote, confirmed the outcome of the rerun was lawful.
They said the no-show of a single voter during the election repeat was not a "substantial problem". "What's important to us is that the revote has been held in compliance with prevailing procedures," Anas argued.
However, deputy director of the Center for Electoral Reform (Cetro) Hadar Navis Gumay, who also witnessed the rerun, said the absence of voters was strange. "It should be investigated thoroughly," Hadar said.
He argued that the boycott could be categorized as a violation of the Election Law, which carries a jail sentence. "If a boycott is proven, it [Al-Zaytun] could be charged under Article 90 [1] of Law No. 23/2003 on presidential elections. The crime could result in a three-month jail term and maximum fine of Rp 100 million [US$11,111]," Hadar added. He said the boycott tainted the whole process of the presidential election.
Agung Mardiyanto further said that there was an indication that no one would show up to vote when not one person had registered for the revote at Al-Zaytun by the July 22 deadline.
The local committee had also sent an invitation to the school asking voters there to turn up on Sunday. It was rejected by the school.
Al-Zaytun director A.S. Panji Gumilang said there was no need for the school's residents, including teachers, students and employees, to vote again. The July 5 election, held at 83 polling stations inside the school compound, was valid, he argued.
The revote was held following alleged vote-rigging at Al-Zaytun during the July 5 election. The KPU then decided to invalidate the 24,818 votes cast as they were cast by people mostly mobilized from outside the school. Almost all of them voted for Wiranto-Solahuddin Wahid. The number of people registered to vote at Al-Zaytun was only 11,500 in the April 5 legislative election.
The election revote was marred by a protest by dozens of supporters of presidential candidate Megawati Soekarnoputri, the incumbent president.
The protesters, led by Megawati's Indramayu campaign team Sukamto, slammed the holding of the revote. "We denounce the repeat election because the KPU failed to take legal action over breaches during the July 5 poll, which forced it to hold a revote," Sukamto said. He claimed the poor turnout indicated that the KPU had not been serious in organizing the revote at Al-Zaytun.