DPD candidates reported to police for alleged violations

DPD candidates reported to police for alleged violations

Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Election Supervisory Committee (Panwaslu) have filed at least
eight police reports in several provinces over violations
involving Regional Representatives Council (DPD) candidates, who
have allegedly committed wrongdoing in their efforts to woo
popular support.

Panwaslu member Didi Supriyanto said on Friday that some DPD
candidates in Central Sulawesi and North Sulawesi had allegedly
copied the identity cards of people, without their knowledge, in
order to qualify for the legislative election.

"We're still trying to collect all reports from other regional
branches of Panwaslu. The cases we reported to the police serve
as a warning for other candidates and we expect the police to
investigate these cases," Didik told a press briefing on Friday.

Also attending the briefing were Abdul Kholik of Panwaslu in
Semarang municipality, Toar N. Palilingan of Panwaslu's North
Sulawesi office, Lendy Siar of Panwaslu in Minahasa regency,
North Sulawesi and Mansur Pondang of Panwaslu office in Tolitoli,
Central Sulawesi.

In its report to the police, the Panwaslu's Central Sulawesi
branch said DPD candidates Kamil Badrun, Nurmawati Bantilan and
Abdul Gani Hado had allegedly submitted copies of ID cards from
residents in Tolitoli and Banggai regencies without their
consent.

Law No. 12/2003 on electoral procedures says a DPD candidate
needs between 1,000 and 5,000 confirmed supporters to be eligible
for the election, depending on the population of the province he
or she will represent. The support must be proven by copies of ID
cards.

Some witnesses claimed that their ID cards were misused by the
candidates as they had never supported the nomination of those
candidates.

Deputy chairman of the Panwaslu office in Semarang, Abdul
Kholik, said DPD candidate Siti Fatimah had also been reported to
the police for copying ID cards without the consent of the
holders, who eventually reported the violation to the Panwaslu
office.

The Panwaslu regional offices said on Friday the DPD
candidates violated article 137 of the election law, and faced a
maximum sentence of 18 months and/or a maximum fine of Rp 6
million.

Meanwhile, the North Sulawesi Panwaslu chairman Toar N.
Palilingan said DPD candidate Adnan Mandiri was found to occupy a
post in the Reform Star Party.

Article 63 of the election law prohibits a DPD candidate from
holding a post in a political party within the last four years
before the election.

The Panwaslu provincial office in North Sulawesi has also
found that the secretary-general of the province's General
Elections Commission (KPUD) office, W. Poluan, had helped a DPD
candidate, Sientje Sondakh Mandey, collect identity cards.

"We demand the KPU to form a disciplinary committee to hear
the case," the Panwaslu office chairman Toar said.

Separately, KPU chairman Nazaruddin Sjamsuddin said he would
verify the report before forming the disciplinary committee.