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Agus-Sylviana ticket secured amid PPP leadership dispute

Jakarta gubernatorial election candidate Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono and his running mate Sylviana Murni will remain eligible in spite of infighting within their political backer, the United Development Party (PPP), which took another turn following the recent court ruling on the party’s leadership dispute

Moses Ompusunggu and Agnes Anya (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Thu, November 24, 2016

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Agus-Sylviana ticket secured amid PPP leadership dispute

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akarta gubernatorial election candidate Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono and his running mate Sylviana Murni will remain eligible in spite of infighting within their political backer, the United Development Party (PPP), which took another turn following the recent court ruling on the party’s leadership dispute.

The Jakarta State Administrative Court (PTUN) ruled in favor of senior PPP politician Djan Faridz who challenged the decree issued by the Law and Human Rights Ministry recognizing Muhammad Romahurmuzy’s leadership of the oldest religion-based party in the country.

The court ruling on Tuesday annulled the ministerial decree on the party that has been rocked by internal conflict for more than a year.

Under Romahurmuzy’s leadership, PPP gave its support to the coalition of parties behind Agus and Sylviana, which are led by the Democratic Party. Djan’s camp, instead, had insisted it supported incumbent Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama and his running mate Djarot Saiful Hidayat even after the blunt governor was named a suspect in a blasphemy case.

Concerns rose whether the court’s ruling might be a game changer for Agus. Each Jakarta gubernatorial election candidate must secure at least 22 seats of the 106 seats in the Jakarta City Council. The pair had secured 38 seats from the four parties endorsing them, namely the Democratic Party, PPP, the National Awakening Party (PKB) and the National Mandate Party (PAN).

A loss of support from the PPP, could cost Agus and Sylviana 10 seats, bringing the amount of councillors supporting them down to 18, less than the amount stipulated by the regulation.

However, the Agus-Sylviana ticket being disqualified seems unlikely as PPP’s support of the pair was filed with the Jakarta General Elections Commission (KPU Jakarta) on Sep. 23 when the candidates registered for the contest.

“KPU Jakarta basically acknowledges only one PPP; the one that was declared valid by the Law and Human Rights Ministry when the [gubernatorial election] registration was open,” said Dahlia Umar, KPU Jakarta campaign task group chairwoman on Wednesday.

PPP, similarly to other parties, is not allowed to take back its support regardless of the dispute in accordance with the 2016 Regulation on the General Elections Commission (KPU) on election candidacy, she said.

In an effort to urge the government to follow up the ruling, Djan met with Law and Human Rights Minister Yasonna H. Laoly at the latter’s office in Kuningan, South Jakarta, on Wednesday morning.

He expressed hope that the ministry would not appeal the ruling at a higher court.

“God willing, the ministry will accept the ruling, because it acknowledges the legal umbrella, which is the Supreme Court’s decree [No. 601/2015 stipulating Djan’s leadership],” Djan said.

The ministry’s director general of legal administration, Freddy Harris, said the ministry would wait until the court had handed the ruling over to his institution before taking any steps to follow up on it.

Separately, Agus said he did not have any worry over the latest court ruling on the PPP’s leadership.

“I will keep my focus on strategies to win the regional election. I appreciate the integrity as well as sovereignty of all political parties,” he said during a campaign visit in South Jakarta on Tuesday as reported by kompas.com.

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