Councillor candidates eat their own to win a seat<\/p>\n
Bambang Nurbianto
\nThe Jakarta Post
\nJakarta<\/p>\n
The race to win a place on the 75-seat City Council has
\nreportedly become so fierce that candidates from the same parties
\nare turning on each other, going so far as to turn in fellow
\nparty members for submitting false documents to the elections
\ncommission.<\/p>\n
Jakarta General Elections Commission (KPUD) chairman Muhamad
\nTaufik told The Jakarta Post on Friday that he had been aware of
\nthese fierce interparty battles for some time, saying his office
\nhad received numerous reports about false documents from members
\nof the same party.<\/p>\n
\"It might be a way for lower ranking candidates to win a seat
\non the council. I don't care about their motivation, the reports
\nare very helpful to us anyway,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Although the ballot papers to be used for the April 5
\nlegislative elections will carry the symbols of 24 political
\nparties and the names of candidates, voters can only mark the
\nparty symbols.<\/p>\n
This means a candidate higher up on the list of a party's
\nlegislative candidates will have a better chance to win a seat.<\/p>\n
So far, KPUD has prohibited 24 candidates from taking part in
\nthe elections because they submitted false school diplomas to the
\nelections commission.<\/p>\n
Taufik said the KPUD discovered many of these fake documents
\nbecause of complaints filed by their fellow party members.<\/p>\n
Mustaman, an Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P)
\ncandidate from West Jakarta, was delisted because he allegedly
\nsubmitted a fake diploma.<\/p>\n
He said that a candidate from his own party reported him to
\nthe KPUD.<\/p>\n
\"I know that I was reported by my fellow party member,\" he
\nsaid on Thursday, adding that his diploma was not false.<\/p>\n
Sumiyati Soekarno is another PDI-P candidate who was barred
\nfrom the elections for submitting false documents. Both Mustaman
\nand Sumiyati are current members of the City Council.<\/p>\n
Taufik said the KPUD had uncovered similar cases in almost all
\npolitical parties.<\/p>\n
He guessed that the KPUD would continue to receive such
\nreports right up to the elections.<\/p>\n
A total of 1,556 candidates have passed the commission's final
\nscreening.<\/p>\n
KPUD has delisted 126 candidates for various reasons,
\nincluding submitting fake documents, failing to meet
\nrequirements, being less than 21 years of age and failure to
\nconfirm the authenticity of submitted documents.<\/p>",
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