Golkar suspected of rice gift scam

CILACAP, Central Java (JP): The government Election Supervisory Committee said it was investigating reports in the Kroya district of Golkar distributing free sacks of rice to people with coupons bearing the party's logo.

Amir S. Fauzi, the committee chairman, said investigations followed suspicions that the distributed five-kilogram sacks belonged to the state.

The chairman of the Golkar branch in Cilacap, Sutoro Ronoseputro, said the distribution was probably the initiative Golkar's Kroya executives. "I think it's normal, why would anyone not allow rice distribution," he said. (45)