Rudolf’s supporters protested the decision by rallying at the elections commission office Monday.
“We are asking for a written and reasonable explanation regarding why the commission dropped Rudolf Pardede and Afifuddin Lubis,” said Israel Situmeang, one of the protesters.

Rudolf and running mate Afifuddin were disqualified from the candidacy Friday reportedly as the former failed to satisfy educational requirements.

Rudolf was believed to be a strong candidate due to his bureaucratic experience.
He was thrusted into gubernatorial post following a plane crash that killed then incumbent Tengku Rizal Nurdin in 2005.

For the mayoral elections, Rudolf was reported to have failed to show a legalized high school (SMU) certificate as required by the regulations.

Separately, Denni Ilham Panggabean and running mate Dianto have been dropped from the candidacy for administrative reasons.

They failed to obtain support from Democratic Party, which instead nominated Rahudman
Harahap, the former mayor’s caretaker, and Dzulmi Eldin, former city secretary.

Ten pairs remain in the running after having passed the verification process.

Five pairs were nominated by political parties while another five are running as independent candidates.

Responding to the commission’s decision, chairman of the Rudolf-Afifuddin campaign camp Ramses Simbolon said the decision was due to political interests.

“We will bring the case to court,” said Ramses, adding internal meetings would be held to prepare for the legal step.

Separately, chairperson of the Medan elections commission Evi Novida Ginting said Monday the decision was in line with the national election commission (KPU) regulation No. 68/2009 on candidacy guidelines.

“Rudolf-Afifuddin were dropped from the candidacy because the pair failed to satisfy the formal education background requirement,” Evi said.

She added before dropping the pair, the Medan commission had also consulted both the North Sumatra provincial commissions.

“We have had the clarification and verification done.  

“It turned out to be different from the [submitted] replacement certificate.

“What we got was just a letter explaining a change of name and that [the person] was once a
student there.”

Evi said she was not taken aback by the possible legal step taken by Rudolf-Afifuddin camp.

“We consider it as a consequence of our job. We are ready to accept whatever risk.”

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