Indonesian president: election weaknesses not fraud

JAKARTA, July 25 (Xinhua) -- Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhohono on Saturday said the shortcomings or mistakes that occurred in the July 8 presidential poll were not "fraud."

"The irregularities, mistakes or shortcomings that happened cannot be categorized as fraud straightaway, but still all these problems must be settled properly," Antara news agency quoted Yudhoyono as saying on Saturday.

Under the existing election system and law, poll contestants who were not satisfied by the election's final results had an opportunity to lodge a complaint or file a lawsuit through a court, he said.

"We hope the protests will be channeled peacefully, with respect for democracy and the rule of law," he said.

He said his side had also collected findings in the field, tending towards the voting irregularities or mistakes, such as alleged difference of vote count at certain location, but it was not reported to the Constitutional Court (MK) because the difference was not significant.

"After making analysis, we found it showed only hundreds of votes different. Of course, we feel improper to report it to the MK which will not change the National Election Committee (KPU)'s decision (on the final results of vote count)," he added.

Yudhoyono said his side will also give input and suggestion to the KPU regarding the dispute on the permanent voters list (DPT).

On Saturday, The KPU officially announced that the Susilo Bambang Yudhyoyono-Boediono pair won 60.8 percent of the votes cast in the July 8 presidential election. Megawati Soekarnoputri-Prabowo Subianto duo bagged 26.79 percent and the Jusuf Kalla - Wiranto ticket 12.41 percent of the votes. However, the pairs of Megawadi and Kalla rejected the results and filed a lawsuit at the court.

According to Yudhoyono, the press conference he was holding at the moment was not a speech marking his acceptance of the final results of the presidential race vote count, but only to respond the presidential election process that had settled the final vote count process.

"The speech marking the acceptance of the final vote count, will be made later after the MK concludes settling the election problem," SBY cited.

According to the country's law, presidential candidate could be elected after he or she get more than 50 percent votes in the election.