Mon, 11 Aug 2003

Electoral body to summon PDI-P leaders over books

Agus Maryono, The Jakarta Post, Cilacap, Central Java

The Cilacap Election Supervisory Committee (Panwaslu) in Central Java said on Saturday it would immediately summon local leaders of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) over their involvement in a preelection scandal.

The scandal has centered on a request by the Cilacap chapter of PDI Perjuangan for elementary and junior high school students to buy exercise books bearing the images of President Megawati Soekarnoputri; her father, founding president Sukarno; Cilacap Regent Probo Yulastoro and Cilacap legislative council speaker Frans Lukman.

Not only books are involved: The Cilacap regency administration has also forced local civil servants, including teachers, to buy red T-shirts bearing the images of Megawati and Sukarno, as well as her party's red symbol.

Chairman of the Cilacap Panwaslu Yoes Sachri said on Saturday that the purpose of the summons was to look into whether PDI Perjuangan leaders had violated regulations on election campaigns.

Although the committee had yet to start an investigation into the case, Yoes has already said that based on common sense, the move to force students and civil servants to buy such books or T- shirts was inappropriate.

Moreover, the party, led by Megawati, had used the bureaucracy to make the sales a success, he added.

He warned that if PDI Perjuangan refused to annul the move, it could face electoral sanctions from his office.

"If the party leaders here are found guilty of violating electoral law, they will punished," he said.

Yoes said that possible punishments included the scrapping, by the Election Supervisory Committee, of PDI Perjuangan's list of councillor candidates found to be involved in the scandal.

They could also be banned from campaigning for their party in Cilacap, he added.

Some one million exercise books have been printed, with many being sold to elementary and junior high school students. The sales were approved by local education offices.

Probo Yulastoro and Frans Lukman are members of PDI Perjuangan's election campaign committee for the 2004 general elections.

The late Sukarno was a legendary and charismatic leader who founded the Indonesian National Party (PNI), whose popular platform -- nationalism -- has been associated with Megawati's PDI Perjuangan. However, her sister, Rachmawati Soekarnoputri, also claims to be advocating her father's teachings through the newly established Pioneer Party.

Many students and civil servants in Cilacap, one of PDI Perjuangan's strongholds in Central Java, appeared to be powerless to reject the request to buy the exercise books or T- shirts as it came from the top tier of the bureaucracy.

They were afraid of any possible sanctions should they defy the order, said Yoes, quoting from many of those concerned.

"They have used the bureaucracy for their own political ends. It is an illegal move. No governmental institution whatsoever can be used for political campaigning," Yoes said.

He said that besides the plan to summon the PDI Perjuangan leaders, the Panwaslu would also collect information and data from civil servants, students and other people affected by the political policy to back up the evidence.

"If the evidence is deemed sufficient, we shall quickly bring the case before investigators," Yoes said.