Election watchdog finds 253 violations in Riau candidacies

Election watchdog finds 253 violations in Riau candidacies

Haidir Anwar Tanjung and Ni Luh Putu Trisna Wahyuni,
The Jakarta Post, Pekanbaru/Mataram

Riau Elections Supervisory Committee (Panwaslu) has spotted 253
violations of election rules in the run-up to the 2004 election
in the province, an official reported on Tuesday.

M. Saeri, the official at the poll watchdog, said that the
violations consisted mainly of school diploma forgery and
campaigning too early. The total 253 violations had been spotted
as of Sunday.

"Some 60 legislative candidates, for example, have been
reported to the police for campaigning early, while eight others
were reported to the police for forging school diplomas," he
said.

He added that the legislative candidates who had forged school
diplomas could be sentenced to prison, as such an act could be
construed as lying to the public.

Separately, in the West Nusa Tenggara capital, Mataram, 63
legislative candidates in the province were declared ineligible
to contest the upcoming election.

The 63 were from a total 681 legislative candidates running
for seats in the West Nusa Tenggara provincial council.

The decision to bar them from contesting the upcoming election
was determined through a plenary meeting held by the West Nusa
Tenggara General Elections Commission (KPU) in Mataram on
Tuesday.

"The plenary meeting concluded that 618 legislative candidates
had passed verification by the KPU, so they are eligible to
contest the upcoming election," said chairman of West Nusa
Tenggara KPU Mahally Fikri.

Of the 618 successful candidates, 466 are men and 152 are
women.

Of the remaining 63, Mahally said that they were disqualified
for a variety of reasons, including failure to complete
administrative requirements set by the KPU.

In their candidacy applications legislative candidates are
required by the KPU to include a photocopy of their ID card, a
photocopy of their school diploma and a court statement that they
are not being prosecuted or have already been sentenced.

Mahally was aware that school diploma forgery was rampant in
the candidacy of the legislative candidates in other areas, but
asserted that he had not encountered any instances of forgery in
the registration of legislative candidates in the province.