T

he Constitutional Court rejected on Friday an appeal to overturn Zaini Abdullah and running-mate Muzakir Manaf’s victory in the Aceh gubernatorial election that was submitted by a losing candidate.

Irwandi Yusuf, who came second in the poll, had claimed the April 9 election was riddled with fraud.

He lodged the appeal in the Constitutional Court in a bid to annul the final result and have another election held.

“The appeal is baseless and unproven. Thus, we reject the appeal entirely,” Constitutional Court Chief Justice Mahfud MD said in his verdict in Jakarta on Friday.

Mahfud added that most of the violations that allegedly took place during the Aceh election, which were used by Irwandi to build the case, were criminal cases that needed to be first ruled on by a different court.

Irwandi, the outgoing Aceh governor, alleged that Zaini won the election by using violence and intimidating voters.

Irwandi also claimed that the Aceh Independent Election Commission’s (KIP) decision to extend the registration process violated his constitutional rights as a gubernatorial candidate.

Irwandi, as the incumbent governor, was the favorite to win the Aceh election.

But, Zaini’s decision to compete in the Aceh poll dramatically changed the political map.

Ultimately, Zaini collected the most votes.

Responding to Irwandi’s challenge, the KIP said that the extension was based on a Constitutional Court instructional letter that was aimed at providing seven more days for gubernatorial hopefuls to register their candidacies.

Commenting on the Constitutional Court’s ruling, Irwandi said that he would accept the ruling and congratulated Zaini on his victory.

“Congratulations to Zaini and his running-mate Muzakir Manaf as governor and deputy governor of Aceh,” Irwandi told The Jakarta Post in a text message.

Irwandi said that he and his team had predicted the outcome before they had even lodged the appeal.

He said that the focus was actually not on the electoral dispute, but rather on political education for the people of Aceh.

Irwandi’s lawyer Sayuti Abubakar said he fully respected the verdict, although the ruling was not what they had expected.

“The most important thing is that we have expressed our objections, even if the court didn’t approve them. I personally congratulate Zaini and Muzakir,” he said.

He said Irwandi would now focus on his newly established Aceh National Party.

Sayuti added that his team would continue to process the alleged criminal cases that occurred during the election.

“We will still seek justice for the criminal cases that happened during the election,” he said.

Zaini’s lawyer Mahendradatta said the court had upheld its main function appropriately.

“The court upheld their norm to handle only constitutional violation cases. I really appreciate this,” he said.

Mahendradatta also urged the government to immediately swear in the new governor and deputy governor.

The KIP announced on April 17 that Zaini and Muzakir won the local election and would lead Aceh from 2012 until 2017.

Zaini and Muzakir won a substantial victory, with 55.78 percent of the vote. Irwandi and his running mate, Muhyan Yunan, garnered only 29.18 percent.

Zaini and Muzakir ran as candidates from the Aceh Party, a local political party that Irwandi also belonged to at the start of his governorship.

Irwandi contested this year’s poll as an independent candidate, following a rift within the party that saw the breakaway of some of the party’s board members to support Irwandi during the occasionally violent campaign.

Since December, the Acehnese have been largely torn apart by rifts between Zaini and Irwandi, leading to threats and a string of shootings.

The threat of violence was feared to be high because former GAM combatants were divided between supporting Zaini or Irwandi. (fzm/tas)