Hyginus Hardoyo, Manokwari – Former Sorong regent Abraham Octovianus Atururi maintained his lead in the West Irian Jaya direct gubernatorial election Monday amid threats by an opponent to take the local election commission to court.
According to the Provincial Election Commission (KPUD) chairperson Regina Sauyai, the number of votes counted as of 6 p.m. Monday was 206,444, or about 50 percent of the total of 406,651 valid votes Abraham and his running mate Rahimin Katjong were well in the lead with 60.9 percent votes, while Yorrys Th. Raweyai remained a distant second with 21.2 percent and Dortheus Asmuruf in last with 17.8 percent.
"The results are provisional, but later we will have the official figures," Regina said. She added that Saturday's election, held after being postponed twice last year, proceeded without significant disruptions.
According to KPUD's schedule, the counting would be held at the village level March 12-14, the district level March 15-17 and the regency/city level March 18-20. "The vote-counting process is still going on at the lower level. We're grateful that we have received plenty of data so far," Regina said.
She played down allegations by candidates who have charged that the election was not legitimate since less than 50 percent of voters turned out, arguing that it was too early to respond because the counting was still underway.
However, she expressed optimism that there would be better than a 50-percent turnout. "Even now, some 50 percent of votes have been counted. So we will see the result. According to election regulations, if a pair gets 25 percent of votes, they can be declared the election's winner. So let's wait," Regina elucidated.
According to article 95 of a 2005 Government Regulation on Gubernatorial Elections, a candidate who garners more than 50 percent of the valid votes will be declared the winner. If the requirement is not met, the candidate with more than 25 percent of valid votes, or the most in the election, will be declared the winner.
Separately, Yorrys Raweyai said that based on his team's data, only 30 percent of eligible voters cast their votes, therefore the election should not be considered valid.
He also said he was upset with the candidates' teams for conducting "black campaigns" but no action was taken against them. However, he did not go into detail about campaign misdeeds.
He expressed further disappointment with the KPUD for not allowing residents without voting cards to cast a vote, although they had other official identification, while adding that he would encourage the Papua Tribal Council to fight the matter.
Abraham's almost certain victory, however, has been cause for celebration for his supporters, hundreds of whom danced in traditional attire around his home in West Manokwari on Sunday night.
One community leader in Arowi, Marthen Nauw, said the residents spontaneously began dancing after hearing of Abraham's early lead. "Although the data is still provisional, it does look to be an unassailable lead," Marthen said.
[With additional reporting from Nethy Dharma Somba in Papua.]