Andi Hajramurni, Makassar – Thousands of supporters of South Sulawesi's governor-elect have pledged to continue protesting the Supreme Court's decision of holding repeat elections in four regencies in the province.
The protesters staged a rally at the legislative council Thursday.
Some 500 civil servants from various state agencies also held a rally rejecting the court decision, which they deemed contradictory to existing law and regulations, as well as a hindrance to the democratization process in the province.
They viewed the repeat election as a waste of funds because it would use up to Rp 40 billion (approximately US$4.4 million) from the province budget.
"It would be worthwhile if the funds were used to subsidize education and health, or help the poor. It would be more beneficial than holding the repeat election, which is only in the interests of a group of people," said a civil servant at the gubernatorial office, Jufri Rahman.
The protesters urged the home minister to ignore the court ruling and swear in Syahrul Yasin Limpo and his running mate Agus Arifin Nu'mang as governor and vice governor for the 2008-2013 term, on Jan. 19, 2008.
As was widely reported in the local media, the Supreme Court approved on Dec. 19, 2007, a lawsuit filed by the defeated gubernatorial candidate pairAmin Syam and Mansyur Ramliwho demanded a repeat election in four regencies: Bone, Gowa, Bantaing and Tana Toraja.
In its verdict the Supreme Court believed a repeat election was in order due to the presence of 8,000 illegal votes, and called for new elections to be completed within three to six months.
The South Sulawesi chapter of the General Election Commission declared earlier the pair of Syahrul Yasin and Agus Arifin won the election. They garnered 1.43 million votes, or 39.52 percent of the total eligible voters, as compared to 1.40 million votes, or 38.76 percent, gained by their competitor.
Demonstrators said Thursday they would not stop their actions until the Supreme Court overturned its ruling or accepted the judicial review submitted by the South Sulawesi General Elections Commission.
The province legislature said it had accepted and would forward the outcome of the plenary session which approved Syahrul and Agus as governor and vice governor-elect, to the home minister to arrange the inauguration schedule.
A vice speaker in the legislature, Ashabul Kaffi, said the decision of handing over the election outcome to the minister was aimed at preventing prolonged confusion, because eventually those who suffered would be the people of South Sulawesi themselves.
"We must consider the people's benefit. We should end the polemics on the controversial Supreme Court decision, because if we let them continue, it will definitely bring loss to the people of South Sulawesi. That's why the legislative leaders' meeting had decided to submit the outcome from the election committee's plenary session to the minister," said Ashabul.