Commission chairman cautious about vote-buying allegations
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.