'Bribery' in North Maluku election: Government

JAKARTA (JP): A government team probing a suspected bribery case involving the newly elected governor of North Maluku, Abdul Gafur, has concluded that money politics had tarnished the election process.

Director General for Regional Autonomy and Public Administration Sudarsono Hardjosoekarto, who also chaired the team, said that the findings, however, might not affect the planned installation of Gafur as governor should President Megawati Soekarnoputri gave her approval.

Sudarsono said the team had completed its investigation into the controversy and had presented its recommendations to the Minister of Home Affairs regarding the steps to be taken should the central government refuse to install Gafur.

"The team concluded that based on the prevailing regulations the government could overrule the election result only if it had strong evidence that Pak Gafur was guilty of buying votes," Sudarsono said.

"But it must be underlined that the regulations also stipulate that allegations of money politics can only affect the election result if there is more than one councillor has reported vote- buying to the provincial legislative council," Sudarsono said.

He was referring to Articles 25 and 28 of Government Regulation No. 151/2001 on election procedures and the appointment and removal of local officials.

"In Pak Gafur's case, the team was able to confirm that only one councillor had received a bribe, while another had only been promised a bribe by him (Gafur)," Sudarsono said.

Gafur, who once served as the state minister for youth affairs and sports under former president Soeharto, was elected on June 5 as the governor of North Maluku, replacing acting governor Muhyi Effendie.

However, the provincial legislative council, after receiving reports that Gafur had given money to two councillors to win their support, decided to put the election result on hold pending further investigation. The two councillors involved are Muhamad Sahafin of the Golkar Party and Muksin Sudara of the United Development Party (PPP).

Sahafin admitted in his written statement that he had received Rp 66 million in bribes, while Sudara admitted that "Abdul Gafur promised me some money should I vote for him as the governor." The promise, however, had yet to be fulfilled.

The government later set up a team to probe the case, consisting of officials from the Directorate General of Regional Autonomy, the Ministry of Home Affairs' Inspectorate, the Directorate General of Regional Integrity, and members of the House of Representatives' Commission II on legal and home affairs. (tso)