42 legislative candidates in Yogyakarta linked to PKI: KPU

Slamet Susanto and Ruslan Sangadji, The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta/Palu

Forty-two legislative candidates in Yogyakarta are believed to have been linked with the outlawed and now-defunct Indonesian Communist Party (PKI), a poll official said on Tuesday.

The Yogyakarta General Election Commission (KPU) would soon verify the report. If it was proved to be true, the commission would ban the 42 candidates from contesting the upcoming elections, local KPU chairman Suparman Marzuki said.

"(The KPU) obtained this information from the Yogyakarta Military command and the Body for Unity, Public Order and People's Protection in Yogyakarta," Suparman said.

None of the names of the 42 candidates had yet been released to the public, he said.

They are contesting legislative seats in the Yogyakarta provincial council, Bantul, Kulonprogo, Sleman and Gunung Kidul regency councils and the Yogyakarta mayoralty council.

According to general election rules, candidates found to be previously involved with the communist movement are banned from contesting in the general election.

Supraman said the Yogyakarta KPU would confine investigations to those legislative candidates allegedly linked to the PKI who were competing for seats on the Yogyakarta Legislative Council. The remaining candidates at regency levels would be summoned and probed by the regental KPUs, respectively.

The Yogyakarta Provincial and Mayoralty Election Supervisory Committees (Panwaslu) said they had also received similar reports.

"We have informed the Yogyakarta KPU of the report and it is their decision whether to ban the legislative candidates from competing," Yogyakarta Panwaslu chairman Muhammad Wafiek said.

The election for legislative candidates is due on April 5, while the first and second phases of the presidential elections will be held on July 5 and Sept. 20, respectively.

The KPU and its regional offices are currently verifying nomination papers filed by legislative candidates nationwide.

They are to announce a final, approved list of legislative candidates on Jan. 28 and 29.

Separately in the Central Sulawesi capital of Palu, the provincial Panwaslu reprimanded six candidates of the Regional Representative Council (DPD) and two political parties, for campaigning before the set campaign period.

The six candidates included Kamil Badrun, the chief editor of Radar newspaper and Faisal Mahmud, the rector of Alkhairaat University in Palu.

Meanwhile, the two political parties in question were Golkar Party and the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P).

Aminuddin Kasim, the chairman of Central Sulawesi Panwaslu, said that some DPD candidates were reprimanded after they placed ads in the media along with their names and photographs urging, residents to vote for them. Some others hung banners on the streets with their photograph.

The poll supervisory body also reprimanded the two political parties for putting up banners in the streets. The campaign period is slated to start on March 11 and end on April 1.

Aminuddin said that Panwaslu would first issue a warning, before taking stronger action.

"This time, we will only reprimand them, but if they violate the election regulations again, they will be reported to the police," he said.