Election campaign bankrupts local council and DPD candidates
Election campaign bankrupts local council and DPD candidates
Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Several candidates for the Regional Representatives Council (DPD)
and the House of Representatives (DPR) were apparently so eager
to serve the public that they bankrupted themselves trying to
secure seats.
A candidate for the Jakarta City Council who declined to be
identified said he had spent some Rp 2 billion since the
beginning of the year on the election. Now he is worried he might
not get a seat because his party did not perform as well as
expected.
He said that before the elections, he was positive he would
win a seat because the party had polled so well in Jakarta in the
1999 elections.
"I am broke because I spent all my savings to buy a high
position on the party's list (of candidates) as well as to back
the party's campaign, but it is not clear whether I will even get
a seat or not," the candidate said.
Because he is retired, the man said he did not know how he
would make money if he did not win a seat on the city council.
A candidate for the Tangerang City Council is looking for
buyers for a relative's house valued at 135 million in order to
cover his expenses as a candidate, a neighbor said.
"This candidate sold almost all his property to finance his
campaigning. He sold everything and now he has to sell his
relative's house to cover the costs," said Yanto, one of the
candidate's neighbors in Cipadu, Tangerang, Banten province.
He said that the man had to pay people to attend his rallies
and purchase T-shirts, flags, banners, posters and flyers with
the symbol of his party.
In addition to all of these expenses, it is also common for
candidates to pay people to act as their witnesses at every
polling station across their respective regions. There are about
2,100 polling stations in Tangerang regency.
If a candidate had to pay Rp 25,000 for one witness, then he
or she would need Rp 42.5 million just for their witnesses. This
in part explained the lack of witnesses at polling stations on
election day, with candidates or parties unable to hire people
and thus forced to rely on members of the local election
committees.
It is also common practice for a candidate to contribute huge
sums of money to his or her party in order to secure a top
position on the party's list of candidates, making it more likely
he or she will win a legislative seat.
A DPD candidate from Jakarta, Nukman Muhasyim, said he had
heard several other DPD candidates complain that they were facing
"huge debts" because of the money they had spent campaigning.
"I heard one candidate fell ill because of the disappointing
election results so far. From what I know, he spent a huge amount
of money (on the campaign)," he said.