A Constitutional Court hearing of a dispute over the official results of the East Java gubernatorial election drew laughter Wednesday when it became apparent two witnesses from Madura were unable to speak Indonesian.
Sahidin, a poll station officer in Alas Kembang, and Fauzan, who administered a Kampung Bararan polling station, were among 21 witnesses presented by plaintiffs Khofifah Indar Parawansa and Mudjiono, who were the losing governor and vice governor candidates in the election, respectively.
Presiding justice Maruarar Sirait was forced to appoint a court staffer, Ali, to interpret Sahidin and Fauzan's testimonies.
Madura people are renowned for their characteristic way of speaking, and are often made the subject of malicious jokes.
Court attendants burst into laughter when Sahidin misinterpreted one of justice Maruarar's questions.
"Does it mean you are masa bodoh (ignorant) of the balloting?" Maruarar said.
"I'm not bodoh (stupid) sir," Sahidin replied.
The interpreter proved of little use during the hearing as he was frequently unable to keep up with the pace of the witnesses' speech.
The plaintiffs had earlier sparked debate when they asked that the 21 witnesses remain anonymous, citing security reasons.
Khofifah and Mudjiono, who were backed in the election by among others the United Development Party and the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), whose stronghold is East Java, challenged the results of the vote count, which went in favor of Soekarwo and Saifullah Yusuf, who were nominated by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's Democratic Party and the National Mandate Party.
The plaintiffs claimed they had won the election, citing the results of an unofficial recount that showed they had collected 7,654,742 votes, compared to their rivals' 7,632,200.
The official vote tally saw Soekarwo and Saifullah collect 7,729,944 votes, beating Khofifah and Mudjiono who secured 7,669,721 votes.
Masykur Hasyim, leader of Khofifah's campaign team, told the court he had found a number of violations ahead of voting day.
"Many of our supporters did not obtain voter cards. We reported this to the local poll committee, but received no response," he said.
He said he had also received reports from his team members about incidences of votes being bought in Bojonegoro regency and poll station officers marking numerous ballots in favor of Soekarwo in Sampang.
Lawyer for the East Java poll body Todung Mulya Lubis said the plaintiffs should have reported all of the alleged violations to the elections supervisory committee, rather than take legal action.
"The petition is obscure. Therefore, we ask the justices to reject it and declare the official vote count legitimate," he said.
Soekarwo, Saifullah and Khofifah attended the Wednesday session. The justices adjourned the hearing until Friday.
