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MK rule may see 26 legislators lose seats
Some 26 legislators-elect from nine winning parties, including the current House of Representatives speaker Agung Laksono, may lose their seats after the Constitutional Court annulled the announced legislative election results
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Some 26 legislators-elect from nine winning parties, including the current House of Representatives speaker Agung Laksono, may lose their seats after the Constitutional Court annulled the announced legislative election results.
On Thursday, the court asked the General Elections Commission (KPU) to revise the legislative election results as a misinterpretation of the legislative seat allocation method made plaintiffs from the National Mandate Party (PAN), the Golkar Party, the United Development Party (PPP), the Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra), and the National Awakening Party (PKB) lose the seats they should have won.
The court said "it rules in favor of the plaintiffs to annul the KPU's decision on the legislative elec-
tion results", and ordered "the commission to apply the right method that has been interpreted by the court."
Refly Harun, an expert witness at the court’s hearing, said based on the court's interpretation of the 2008 Legislative Elections Law, the remaining votes from all electoral districts should be counted at the provincial level, to decide the final seat distribution.
The KPU's now disqualified method disregards many remaining votes in several districts, resulting 5.3 million lost votes.
“The law and KPU regulation No.15/2009 state that remaining votes from all districts should be counted at the provincial level, while according to the KPU’s interpretation, only remaining votes from districts that have remaining seats are counted at the provincial level,” the senior researcher from the Center for Electoral Reform (Cetro) said.
“KPU’s inappropriate interpretation resulted in a disproportionate representation.
There were around 5 million votes left uncounted, leading to some 26 elected candidates losing their seats,” he added.
“The seat distribution among parties will not change drastically. But, the names of the candidates earning those seats will surely change,” Refly said.
For example, he said, House Speaker Agung Laksono from the Golkar Party, who was previously predicted as having failed to retain a seat in the House and whose seat was later saved using the KPU’s interpretation, would not get the seat after all.
“According to the right method, Agung, who was competing in Jakarta, will not retain his seat in the House. His seat will instead go to Saifuddin Donodjoyo, a candidate from the Gerindra Party.”
He said Cetro had warned the KPU they were making a mistake.
“Two days before the legislative election result announcement on May 9, legislator Ferry Mursyidan Baldan of the Golkar Party suggested the KPU use the now disqualified interpretation,” he said.
Andi Nurpati, a KPU member, said the KPU respected the court’s decision but would study
the verdict first before changing the results.
“If the court considers the method we used inappropriate, then the legislators who made the law should also be held responsible too,” she said.
The court's verdict is the latest rule that changed the poll results after it ordered the KPU to do a
vote rerun for elections in South Nias, North Sumatra and Yahukimo, Papua. (fmb)
