Commission chairman cautious about vote-buying allegations

M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta

The General Elections Commission (KPU) emphasized on Friday that all vote-buying allegations leveled at presidential candidates must be supported by strong evidence.

KPU chairman Nazaruddin Sjamsuddin said only where there was solid evidence could the Election Supervisory Committee (Panwaslu) bring the case to trial, otherwise the allegations could be considered slanderous.

"Until now, the KPU has not received any reports on allegations of vote buying involving presidential candidates. But for those who have evidence please report to us and we will examine whether it is authentic," Nazaruddin said.

KPU member Hamid Awaluddin said the public should report to Panwaslu if they find any indication of vote buying.

"It is not possible for the KPU to conduct its own investigation into the allegations and we call on the public to resort to Panwaslu should they find such evidence. It is Panwaslu that handles these cases," he said.

KPU officials were commenting on recent reports by the Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW) and Indonesian Transparency International (TI) which said that all presidential candidates had practiced vote buying, with Wiranto of the Golkar Party topping the list of vote-buyers.

Golkar has denied the allegations.

Presidential candidate of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), the incumbent, President Megawati Soekarnoputri was found to have misused state facilities the most.

The NGOs also said candidates had deliberately set up a special team in charge of vote buying.

Member of the Megawati-Hasyim's team Heri Akhmadi said that the TI and ICW reports were flawed and exaggerated. "How can a blood donation program and the distribution of stickers and books containing our candidate's manifesto be considered money politics, that's absurd," he told The Jakarta Post.

In the TI report, Megawati and Hasyim were alleged to have spent Rp 17,525,000 two weeks into the campaign trail, mainly on the blood donation program and the distribution of stickers and other campaign materials.

Heri said the mushrooming organizations in support of Megawati and Hasyim were beyond the reach of his team as they were initiated by Megawati's die-hard supporters.

Member of the campaign team of National Mandate Party candidates Amien Rais and Siswono Yudohusodo, J. Geovanie, lauded the NGOs' report, saying it would help the public assess the quality of candidates.

"However, they should be more accurate and objective in presenting the facts as it is doubtful our team has bought votes. We are the poorest among all candidates' teams," he said.

He said the KPU, Panwaslu and NGOs should reach a consensus on what constituted vote buying.

A member of the Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono-Jusuf Kalla team, Ali Mochtar, refuted the vote-buying allegations and demanded that the NGOs come up with evidence.

"We did donate Rp 8 million for the construction of a mosque, but there were no strings attached," he told the Post.