General Elections Commission denies corruption charges
M. Taufiqurrahman, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta
Amid mounting public pressure, the General Elections Commission (KPU) acknowledged on Thursday that it had spent more than it had budgeted for in the procurement of materials for the April 5 legislative election.
But, a spokesman explained that it was just a case of inefficiency rather than corruption.
"There has been a dramatic rise in the budget for procuring ballot boxes, polling booths, ballot papers and the distribution of ballot papers.
But, the entire budget was approved and spent with the consent of the House of Representatives, particularly the House Commission II on domestic affairs," said Ramlan Surbakti, the deputy chairman of the KPU.
Ramlan added that the KPU had presented its accountability report to the legislators and the lawmakers found nothing irregular in the report. Besides the House, the Supreme Audit Agency also stated that the KPU had not misused state funds, according to Ramlan.
Ramlan admitted, however, that the poll commission had indeed been somewhat ineffective in sticking to its budget. For example, the KPU had spent some Rp 25 million (US$2,631) for a consultant to design the ballot papers for the April 5 legislative election with thousands of candidates and 24 parties.
However, it spent Rp 100 million for a consultant to design the ballot papers for the September presidential election with only two candidates, said Ramlan.
When asked to explain, Ramlan would not give any further details. "This is a bad policy, but I don't think it is tantamount to corruption," he said.
Ramlan's press conference came about after complaints were filed by a coalition of five non-governmental organizations (NGOs) with the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), alleging that the KPU had marked up costs and thus embezzled state money in the procurement of materials for the April 5 legislative election.
The coalition said that all nine members of KPU and its secretary-general were involved in an alleged markup scheme that amounted to Rp 375 billion (US$41.6 million) in losses of the taxpayers' money.
In a related development on Thursday, anticorruption watchdog Transparency International (TI) Indonesia stepped up pressure on the KPU, calling on the House to start an investigation into the alleged graft.
"The House budgetary committee should not be content with merely deciding how much money the commission should get for organizing elections. It should also be proactive in checking out how the money has been spent, and whether or not irregularities have taken place," TI Indonesia coordinator Anung Karyadi said.
Ramlan said that the KPU members would be ready if they had to be cooperate with an investigation by any government body.