Financiers leave Mega in the lurch
M. Taufiqurrahman, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
President Megawati Soekarnoputri has not only been beaten by her rival in the Sept. 20 election in terms of votes. Former general Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono also beat her in terms of campaign funds with Rp 50 billion at his disposal compared to Megawati's Rp 17 billion.
Only one single company and three individual donors had donated funds amounting to Rp 120 million (US$13,000) to Megawati, according to a balance sheet obtained by The Jakarta Post on Friday. The company, PT Hasrat Abadi, based in upmarket Menteng district gave Rp 100 million, while two individuals from Jakarta and Jambi contributed a total of Rp 20 million.
The bulk of the fund was put in by her Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P).
There has been a steep decline in the number of donors from the first round of the presidential election on July 5 when hundreds of companies and individuals had filled the party's coffers. Perhaps donors in the first round election had sensed her imminent defeat and hence left her in droves.
In total, the Megawati-Hasyim team received Rp 17.65 billion to run their campaign activities.
Susilo and running mate Jusuf Kalla received ample financial support from hundreds of corporate donors totaling Rp 40.8 billion.
Aside from companies based in the capital, the bulk of corporate donors hailed from towns in South Sulawesi, Kalla's home province.
In the list of donors, there were also a large number of individuals from the province's capital, Makassar.
Corporate donors made up Rp 19 billion compared to Rp 21 billion from individuals.
Law No. 23/2003 on direct presidential election states that donations from individual donors must not exceed Rp 100 billion. The limit for corporate donors is Rp 750 million.
Although presumably unintended, Megawati spent more than the media-savvy Susilo in media advertising.
Megawati-Hasyim team's list of campaign spending showed that it spent Rp 13.9 billion for its media campaign. Television ads consumed Rp 10 billion.
Susilo and Kalla only spent Rp 10.8 billion for their media campaign.
Being aware that the media was within its grasp, the Susilo- Kalla team shifted its priority to make sure that vote-rigging would not undermine Susilo's anticipated victory.
It spent an astronomical Rp 24.3 billion to pay for the accommodation of monitors stationed at the polling stations. Kalla said prior to the election day that his team would deploy one million monitors to anticipate possible vote manipulation.
In the first round of the presidential election, the Megawati- Hasyim team spent Rp 40.56 billion for ads, exceeding the Susilo- Kalla team which allocated Rp 35.4 billion.
In the days prior to the three-day campaign period, both teams balked at the idea of surrendering the balance sheet arguing that the General Elections Commission (KPU) organized the campaign and therefore was accountable for its budget.
However, both teams met the deadline for surrendering the balance sheets late on Thursday, a source at the KPU said.
Candidates' teams are required to submit the report three days after the poll.
The KPU will submit the balance sheets to an accounting firm on Sept. 25 for further auditing. "We expect to disclose the audit result on Oct. 5," the source said.
She also said the KPU had written to both campaign teams to shed more light on donors who were considered dubious in the first round of the presidential election.