President holds meeting to evaluate election

The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Wed, 04/15/2009 2:15 PM  |  National

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono opened a meeting with cabinet members and governors to evaluate last week's legislative elections at his office in Jakarta on Wednesday morning.

In his opening delivery, Yudhoyono said he expected the forum to discuss election policy and find the necessary solution to settle problems from the ballot.

"We can make our recommendations to the General Elections Commission or we can implement them ourselves," he told the forum, as quoted by tempointeraktif.com.

The President said he admitted a number of problems occurred during the election, one of the most troubling being irregularities in the electoral role, or fixed voters' list.

The meeting was attended by Vice President Jusuf Kalla, National Police Chief Bambang Hendarso Danuri, Indonesian Military Chief Gen. Djoko Santoso, Coordinating Minister for Politics, Law and Security Affairs Widodo AS, Coordinating Minister for the People's Welfare Aburizal Bakrie, Home Ministry Mardiyanto, Acting Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati and State Minister of Communication and Information Muhammad Nuh.

Among the governors attending the meeting were Jakarta Governor Fauzi Bowo, West Sumatra Governor Gamawan Fauzi, Bali Governor Made Mangku Pastika, South Sulawesi Governor Syahrul Yasin Limpo, South Kalimantan Governor Rudy Arifin and Papua Governor Barnabas Suebu.

Leaders of political parties, the national rights body and a number of society groups have taken legal action to challenge the April 9 elections' results.

Allegations of fraud and confusion surrounding the voter lists led to individuals being denied voting rights and raised questions about the elections' legitimacy. (dre)

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