Challenges to Poll Result Are Welcome: Indonesian President

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono shaking hands
with Coordinating Minister for People’s Welfare Aburizal Bakrie
at the State Palace in Jakarta on Tuesday

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Tuesday welcomed this week’s challenges to the presidential election result, saying that institutions existed to deal with them and that the public had grown in maturity and was able to determine whether they were reasonable. “Let all this proceed, because our system can already accommodate electoral protests,” Yudhoyono said in opening remarks at a coordination meeting at the president’s office. He said he was convinced that whatever the political situation, “there will certainly be a settlement, a best solution.” His conviction, he said, was based on the existence of democracy, the rule of law and logical politics in the country. “People are actually already able to digest and interpret things well, even to distinguish between the logical and illogical,” Yudhoyono said. The General Elections Commission (KPU) last week formally proclaimed Yudhoyono and running mate Boediono the winners of the July 8 presidential election with a convincing 60.8 percent of the vote, making a runoff unnecessary. Yudhoyono’s two rivals in the election filed protests over the result this week. On Monday, third-place Jusuf Kalla called on the Constitutional Court to declare the July 8 poll invalid. And the next day Megawati Sukarnoputri demanded that the election be repeated.Yudhoyono said he expected the challenges to be carried out peacefully, democratically and in an orderly fashion. “That is what we expect, so that [politics] will not disturb the life of the state and the wheels of the government, and the economic recovery can continue and increase people’s welfare.” He said the government would soon hold a teleconference with all ministers and governors nationwide to discuss economic recovery efforts and remind observers “of our commitment to maintaining domestic security, including our efforts at preventing, warding off and combating terrorism.” All police and military leaders from the district level and higher would also take part in the meeting to discuss how to collaborate to safeguard national security, he said. The meeting comes in the wake of suicide bombings at two upscale Jakarta hotels on July 17 that killed nine people and injured at least 55. The attacks were the first after four years of calm.

Author: The Jakarta Globe