KPU officials pass the buck<\/p>\n
Tony Hotland, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Members of the General Elections Commission (KPU) maintained
\ntheir innocence against charges of corruption before House of
\nRepresentatives legislators on Monday, attempting to throw guilt
\nonto the KPU secretariat general.<\/p>\n
While the KPU members were busy justifying themselves, the
\ncommission's deputy secretary general Sussongko Suhardjo let the
\ncat out of the bag by stating that it was KPU chief Nazaruddin
\nSyamsuddin who had ordered a bribe payment for a state auditor in
\norder to influence his audit results, which subsequently led to
\nthe arrest of commission member and noted criminologist Mulyana
\nW. Kusumah.<\/p>\n
During a hearing with House Commission II on home affairs,
\nNazaruddin said the KPU secretariat general had managed all
\nspecific uses of funds disbursed by the commission.<\/p>\n
\"We are only policy makers. Even if we had conducted tenders,
\nwe only made policies and left the execution to the secretariat
\ngeneral,\" Nazaruddin told legislators.<\/p>\n
The KPU members were summoned by the House to clarify a
\nSupreme Audit Agency (BPK) investigative audit that indicates
\nover Rp 90 billion (US$9.47 million) in KPU funds had been
\nmisappropriated during last year's legislative election.<\/p>\n
Asked why the members never demanded that the secretariat
\ngeneral clarify the matter, Nazaruddin said he had lost contact
\nwith then secretary general Safder Yusaac.<\/p>\n
\"He (Safder) has not been with the KPU since January,\"
\nNazaruddin said. Safder is now with the Ministry of Home Affairs.<\/p>\n
Sussongko's lawyer Gunawan Oetomo said Nazaruddin was
\nresponsible for the bribe given to the BPK auditor.<\/p>\n
\"Verbal instructions were also rendered by (treasurer) Hamdani
\nAmin and Safder,\" Gunawan said while accompanying his client, who
\nhas been declared a suspect, during questioning at the office of
\nthe Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK).<\/p>\n
Hamdani, another suspect in the bribery case, said last week
\nthat the KPU had collected some Rp 20 billion from election
\nmaterial supplier firms as kickbacks, which was later shared
\namong all members and some staffers.<\/p>\n
He said each member had received about US$105,000, and the
\nfunds were also shared with House members, BPK staffers and
\nbureaucrats at the Ministry of Finance.<\/p>\n
As if to alarm KPU members to speak the truth, Hamdani's
\nlawyer Abidin quoted his client as saying that the collection of
\nsuch funds had been agreed during two KPU plenary sessions.<\/p>\n
\"The first one was attended by Nazaruddin and (deputy) Ramlan
\nSurbakti, while the second was attended by all KPU members, the
\nsecretariat general and all heads of bureau,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Nazaruddin denied the accusations, even claiming that he was
\nconfused as to why Mulyana would bother to bribe the BPK since
\nthere was nothing corrupt to hide.<\/p>\n
Seconded by seven remaining KPU members, Nazaruddin said the
\nBPK report contained numerous mistakes. The KPU even proposed the
\nappointment of an independent auditor, which lawmakers quickly
\nbrushed off.<\/p>\n
He admitted that the KPU violated regulations in some
\ninstances, such as increasing additional ballot papers by 10
\npercent instead of the required 2 percent, and giving a rise to
\nself-estimated prices of ballot papers, due to the \"tight\" and
\n\"abnormal\" technical situations it was facing back then.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/kpu-officials-pass-the-buck-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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