T

he House of Representative’s election fraud committee said on Tuesday that it would follow up reports of irregularities that allegedly occurred during the 2009 polls.

The committee, which was set up in the wake of a forgery scandal involving former General Election Commission (KPU) member Andi Nurpati, said it had received 52 reports of irregularities in the polls.

Committee deputy chairman Gandjar Pranowo said the House would investigate each case by presenting all related parties in their hearings. “The KPU, the regional poll bodies and the Election Supervisory Committee [Bawaslu] are two most relevant bodies expected to provide clarifications,” he said after Tuesday’s hearing.

During the hearing, however, the KPU only clarified 23 of the 52 reports. Of the 23 cases, eight were related to disputes for seats at the House of Representatives, 11 at the Regional Representatives Council (DPRD), and four were related to elections of regional heads. They occurred in South Sumatera, North Maluku, Central Java, Lampung, South Sulawesi and Papua.

One of the cases involves the election of Ahmad Yani, a lawmaker from the United Development Party (PPP), in North Sumatera.

During the hearing, Akbar Faizal, a legislator of the People’s Conscience (Hanura) Party, was engaged in intensive bickering over an alleged vote markup scandal which gave a House seat to Yani. Akbar and several other legislators questioned Hafiz why the commission had decided to give the seat to Yani, when the real winner was Usman M. Tokan.

“The KPU is really unfair and inconsistent not only in this case but also in others affecting my [Hanura] party,” Akbar said.

Hhafiz explained that the KPU had recorded that the PPP won 68,061 votes in the South Sumatra I electoral district and that their No. 1 candidate Usman had won the most votes (20,728), but the party rejected the result and brought the case to the Constitutional Court, which later gave the party an additional 12,951 votes to produce a total of 81,012, thus awarding the legislative seat to Ahmad, who was said to have won the most votes (30,660).

Chaeruman Harahaps, who presided over the hearing, also protested the court’s verdict, arguing that the number of votes garnered by all PPP candidates was far higher than the total votes won by the party in the electoral district.

“If Ahmad wins 30,660 votes, which is more than the figure noted by the KPU, the number of votes garnered by other PPP candidates should be lowered, but the figures have in reality remained the remain,” he said.

Akbar also criticized the KPU, which he said was powerless in defending the legislative election’s results, especially in resettlements of election disputes at the court.

In his defense, Hafiz said the KPU had always presented relevant documents and other evidence in seeking settlements of election disputes at the court.

Agun Gunandjar of the Golkar Party faction said that the 52 election disputes were a result of the KPU’s lack of independence and weak integrity.

“The working committee in its recommendations will not annul the 2009 general election’s results but will recommend that the police and other relevant institutions settle the disputes thoroughly,” he said.

Gandjar added that the KPU would be asked to inaugurate the rightful winners of the disputed elections, and that those who were erroneously appointed via court ruling were morally obliged to step down and hand their seats to the rightful winners.

“Although Ahmad won a mandate through the court to sit in the House, he has a moral obligation to quit and give his seat and all honorarium he has so far received to Usman if he is proven guilty in the vote mark-up case,” he said.