KPU chief pledges innocence in graft case<\/p>\n
Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Chairman of the General Elections Commission (KPU) Nazaruddin
\nSyamsuddin insisted on Thursday he was innocent in the alleged
\nhigh profile corruption at the commission, saying the secretary-
\ngeneral should be held responsible.<\/p>\n
Nazaruddin also said that he was not responsible for the
\nwrongdoings of his subordinates, saying any irregularities within
\nthe KPU were \"the responsibility of the individuals concerned,
\nand not the institution\".<\/p>\n
\"Why should I be held responsible for (actions taken by) my
\nsubordinates? As KPU chairman, do you think I have to know all
\nthe moves taken by my staff? I am responsible for what they have
\ndone if they stick to the existing regulations, but once they
\ncommit any wrongdoing, they themselves must be held responsible
\nfor it,\" Nazaruddin said after a seven-and-half-hour
\ninterrogation session at the office of the Corruption Eradication
\nCommission (KPK) in Central Jakarta.<\/p>\n
His defensive statement came after former KPU secretary-
\ngeneral Safder Yusaac, KPU deputy secretary-general Sussongko
\nSuhardjo and KPU treasurer Hamdani Amin accused him of being
\nresponsible for the corruption at the KPU.<\/p>\n
Both Sussongko and Hamdani have been declared suspects by the
\nKPK for their alleged involvement in the graft case, which
\ncenters around the collection of a total of Rp 20 billion
\n(US$2.10 million) in kickbacks from private companies that
\nprovided election materials for the KPU.<\/p>\n
Earlier in the investigation, Yusaac, Hamdani and Sussongko
\naccused Nazaruddin of verbally instructing them to collect
\nkickbacks in a tactical fund for improving the welfare of KPU
\nmembers, some of which was later shared with several officials of
\nthe Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) and members of the House of
\nRepresentatives.<\/p>\n
But Nazaruddin denied on Thursday that he instructed the
\nsecretary-general to collect the tactical fund.<\/p>\n
\"I have never issued either a written or a verbal instruction
\nto the secretary-general's office to collect a tactical fund. I
\nhad no idea about it,\" Nazaruddin said.<\/p>\n
Nazaruddin acknowledged that Presidential Decree No. 54\/2003
\non KPU's framework underlined that the KPU chairman is tasked
\nwith signing proposals, \"but I put my signature of approval on
\nproposals only after the KPU secretary-general, deputy secretary-
\ngeneral, treasurer and head of monitoring department signed them.<\/p>\n
\"What does this mean? It means that these officials are
\nresponsible as individuals for what they do,\" he said.<\/p>\n
KPK interrogated Nazaruddin for the third time since the scam
\ncame to the surface in April, when the KPK arrested KPU member
\nMulyana W. Kusumah for trying to bribe a state auditor in a bid
\nto influence the audit of KPU funds.<\/p>\n
In Thursday's questioning, Nazaruddin explained to the KPK
\ninvestigators procedures on the procurement and payment of
\nelection materials.<\/p>\n
Besides Nazaruddin, the KPK investigators also questioned KPU
\nofficial Rosadi Kantaprawira and three KPU suppliers.<\/p>\n
Elsewhere, Nazaruddin also denied allegations made by his
\nstaff that he had received some US$125,000 of the tactical fund.<\/p>",
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