ID Nugroho, Jakarta – Leaders of political parties, the national rights body and a number of civil society groups have taken legal action to challenge the April 9 elections' results.
All groups said the alleged fraud and the hubbub surrounding the voter lists had prevented many people from voting and raised questions about the elections' legitimacy.
The Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI), the Indonesian Legal Aid Association (PBHI) and the Indonesian Women's Association for Justice (LBH APIK) filed Tuesday a civil lawsuit against the General Elections Commission (KPU) and the government, for preventing citizens from voting in the recent elections.
"The KPU and the government failed to update the voter lists, either intentionally or due to negligence, resulting in many people not being registered. Both [the KPU and the government] have violated the elections law," YLBHI chairman Patra M. Zen said.
Meanwhile, the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) plans to put together an investigation team to examine why so many voters were not registered on the voter lists in the April elections.
"We just want to make sure this election was run fairly, because the fraud allegation raises questions about the legitimacy of the new government," the chairman of the commission, Ifdal Kasim, said Tuesday.
"We can understand if the flaws in the voter lists were a result of negligence. However, if these errors were intentional, further investigations and trials will be necessary," Ifdal said.
During the recent polls, the rights Commission monitored several regions, including areas vulnerable to conflict such as Papua, Poso, Ambon and Aceh, as well as border areas such as Atambua in West Nusa Tenggara and Tawau in the province of Kalimantan.
The survey conducted by the Rights commission focused on marginal groups such as internally displaced people, migrant workers, prisoners and hospitalized mentally ill patients.
The survey indicated the majority of these people had remained unregistered or had not been allowed to vote, even though their names were on the list.
The KPU registered 171 million voters for the recent legislative elections, while activists claimed more than 10 million voters were turned away from polling stations nationwide because their names were not on the lists.
Meanwhile, leaders from 13 political parties contesting the elections agreed Tuesday they would collaborate to gather evidence and then file a legal action against the election fraud they believed took place.
"We will leave it up to the law, because we still believe in the justice system," the People's Conscience Party (Hanura) chairman Wiranto said, who represents the 13 party leaders.
The politicians also issued a joint statement slamming the recent elections as "the worst elections" compared with the 1999 and 2004 elections, with more irregulaties occurring than in the two previous polls.
The joint statement was issued at former president Megawati Soekarnoputri's house on Jl. Teuku Umar, Central Jakarta. Prominent figures also attending the meeting included Prabowo Subianto of the Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra), National Mandate Party (PAN) member Toto Daryanto, chairman of the United Development Party (PPP) Rusdi Hanafi, Crescent Star Party (PBB) member Yusril Ihza Mahendra and Prosperous Peace Party (PDS) member Ferry B. Siregar.
Former president Abdurahman Wahid and independent presidential candidate Rizal Ramli also attended the meeting.
"Flawed voter lists have caused many Indonesians to lose their right to vote and it is against the 1945 Constitution," said Wiranto. (naf)