East Java candidates claim clerics' blessings

Indra Harsaputra and ID Nugroho The Jakarta Post ,  Surabaya   |  Sat, 12/13/2008 11:14 AM  |  East Java

A vote rerun is scheduled in Sampang and Bangkalan regencies while a vote recount is slated for Pamekasan regency.

Governor hopeful Soekarwo and his running mate Saifullah Yusuf, known as the Karsa pair, thanked all clerics Friday in the two regencies who had stood behind them and had campaigned for them.

"The presence of influential clerics and religious figures in numerous informal gatherings in Bangkalan these past three days is evidence that the people in the two regencies still support us," he said as the two visited a pesantren (Islamic boarding school) in Bangkalan.

Meanwhile, chairman of Khofifah Indar Parawansa's campaign team, Maskur Hasjim, said that after winning the support of influential clerics and politicians in Sampang, the pair and their campaign team would continue to approach eligible voters at the grassroots level in the two regencies these next few days.

"They have meetings scheduled everyday with groups of clerics, religious figures and eligible voters from one district to another one in the two regencies. It is more effective than mass gatherings," he told The Jakarta Post.

On Wednesday, the Karsa pair attended informal gatherings with clerics in Burneh and Sabeneh and also went to a hotel in Bangkalan where clerics declared their political support for the two.

Meanwhile, Khofifah and her running mate, Mujiono -- dubbed the Kaji pair -- and their campaign team visited a number of pesantren and attended the wedding reception of the grandson of influential cleric Alawy Muhammad in Sampang.

Mutawwakil Alallah, chairman of the provincial chapter of the largest Muslim organization Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), visited Bangkalan calling for the regent, the vice regent and local clerics to help maintain political stability on the eve of the vote rerun.

He admitted his visit had something to do with the strong opposition to the Constitutional Court's verdict among local officials and certain parties.

"All interest groups, especially NU figures in the local administrations, legislative councils and other state institutions should avoid provocative actions and political maneuvers that can jeopardize the political stability, and should respect the Court's decision," he said.

Local officials in the two regencies have expressed their disappointment with the court's verdict which on Dec. 2 ordered a vote recount in Pamekasan within 30 days and a vote rerun in Sampang and Bangkalan within 60 days.

Separately, hundreds of students and youths from Bangkalan staged a demonstration in front of the provincial General Elections Commission (KPUD) in Surabaya to protest the court's decision after hearing alleged cases of vote riggings and other election violations during the Nov. 4 second round.

"The court's decision is politically driven. We will boycott the vote recount and rerun," said rally leader, Mahmudi.

The court's verdict had also sparked a strong protest from the local KPUD and officials in the two regencies. The Bangkalan and Sampang regents and deputy regents attended the recent informal gatherings organized by Karsa's campaign team.

Kacung Marijan, a political analyst from the Airlangga University in the city, warned of the political implications for the 2009 presidential election, saying the court had opened up a legal space for more than two rounds in the presidential election.

"With the way the decision was made, the court will have to accept a lawsuit filed by defeated presidential hopefuls and will have to order other rounds in certain troubled areas," he said.

"With its decision, the court assumed that violations were committed during the second round."

Daniel Sparingga, another political analyst from the university, concurred and said that with the decision, the court had committed a dangerous action by changing the civil law to a common law.

He called on law experts to go to a round table meeting to discuss the issue impartially without any political biases because there were no other higher institutions supervising the Constitutional Court.

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