Yulia Savitri, Palembang – Two-minute footage of a number of unidentified people on a rampage inside a room full of voting boxes went viral on Thursday. The people in the video can be seen throwing chairs while shouting "Allahuakbar [God is great]", causing panic in the room.
Later on in the day, it was confirmed that the incident took place at the Empat Lawang General Elections Commission (KPU Empat Lawang) in South Sumatra, during the counting of legislative votes. The incident took place on Tuesday.
KPU South Sumatra commissioner Hepriadi said the incident started when representatives of the Golkar Party and the NasDem Party asked KPU Empat Lawang to recount votes as they had found a number of revisions to the district-level vote recapitulation form (DA1). KPU officers, however, ignored the suggestion.
The furious people who stood outside the office then started to throw things at police officers guarding the counting process. Some managed to get into the office and threw items. The chaos subsided right after the police fired tear gas at the people.
The vote-counting process was postponed as a result but KPU South Sumatra decided to take over and continued the process on Thursday.
KPU South Sumatra, which is located in Jakabaring, Palembang, was heavily guarded by the police, while some people proclaiming themselves as "election witnesses" monitored the process in front of the building.
A witness from Golkar, Raka, said the DA1 form at KPU Empat Lawang was flawed because it was full of correction marks. "We can't accept this. A recount is a must," he said.
Head of the province's Election Supervisory Agency, Iin Irwanto, said those who believed violations had taken place could report their claims by presenting evidence to the agency. If proven guilty, KPU staffers would be sanctioned. (vny)