Jakarta – Civil society groups began filing lawsuits Thursday against the government and the General Elections Commission (KPU) over elections shortcomings.
The plaintiffs based their lawsuits on their disappointment with the voting process during the general elections. They deemed the elections fraudulent because many people were not listed in the voter lists and were thus unable to vote.
On Thursday, the Central Jakarta District Court held the first hearing between the People's Lawyers Union (SPR) against the President, the KPU and the home minister.
None of the defendants nor their representatives were present for the hearing, which SPR spokesman Habiburokhman called "very disappointing".
"We are very disappointed. We submitted the necessary files for this hearing a week ago, and the defendants' offices are not far from the court," he told reporters after the hearing.
Presiding judge Reno Listowo said the defendants might had missed the hearing because they were too busy with other matters, such as running the country.
"That's not a good enough reason, in my opinion, because they can at least send an official letter or representative. The government always fails to show up for the first hearing, which indicates they want to buy more time," Habiburokhman said.
Reno said the court could send a warning letter to the defendants to request their presence at the next hearing next Thursday. "If by then the defendants fail to show up, we will demand the court continue with the trial against them in absentia," Habiburokhman said.
In the lawsuit, the plaintiffs accused the defendants of violating Law no. 22/2007 and Article 22(e) of the 1945 Constitution on direct, honest and fair general elections by neglecting the inaccuracies in the voter lists.
"For that, we demand the court rule against the defendants – the KPU, the home minister and the President – and find them guilty for their violations," he added.
SPR brought the case to court on behalf of FX Arief Poyuono, a citizen who claimed he "almost had his constitutional right to vote robbed during the elections and had to fight (his) way through to earn (his) rights back".
Habiburokhman said despite being only one man, Arief represented Indonesians as a whole in the lawsuit. He added that neither his client nor the union demanded that revotes be held. "We're not looking for revotes," he said.
Meanwhile, the Indonesian Legal Aid Association (PBHI) has also filed lawsuits and demanded another election for disenfranchised voters. PBHI chairman Syamsuddin Radjab told The Jakarta Post he had filed the lawsuit on Tuesday and expected the first hearing to begin by April 21.
Syamsuddin and representatives of other civil society groups claimed the government and the KPU had left around 45 million voters disenfranchised through sheer ignorance and negligence in drawing up and updating the voter lists.
The government and the KPU are likely to be on the receiving end of even more lawsuits, after the leaders of 13 political parties said recently they would collaborate to gather evidence for legal action over the elections irregularities. (hdt)