Hundreds of new legislators mired in legal problems

Hundreds of new legislators mired in legal problems

M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta

Over 200 new members of the House of Representatives, the
Regional Representatives Council (DPD) and local legislatures are
implicated in legal problems that could end up with their having
to resign their seats, the Election Supervisory Committee
(Panwaslu) says.

Citing reports from its local branches, the official election
watchdog disclosed on Wednesday that 257 new legislators,
including three who will sit in the House, are mired in legal
woes ranging from alleged diploma forgery to being convicted and
given jail sentences for substance abuse.

However, most of the problematic legislators, if not all, will
likely be sworn in as they can be deprived of their seats only
after final and conclusive decisions have been handed down in
their cases.

Panwaslu member Didik Supriyanto said on Wednesday that
diploma forgery was the most common offense that new legislators
were implicated in.

"Two hundred and thirteen legislators are suspected of having
forged high school and university diplomas," Didik told a press
briefing.

One of the requirements for standing for legislative office is
that a candidate has a high school diploma or higher. As a
consequence, there was a flood of would-be legislators producing
diplomas issued by non-existent high schools, schools that were
not recognized by the relevant ministries.

The committee also revealed that eight elected candidates,
including one who took a House seat in the Yogyakarta electoral
district, were currently standing trial on vote-buying charges.
There were also five local legislature members from the province
implicated in money politics.

Another Panwaslu member, Topo Santoso, mentioned the case of a
legislative council member in Central Java who had been given a
jail sentence for substance abuse.

"This sort of crime carries a five-year jail sentence or more,
and the legislator may be deprived of his seat if a final and
conclusive verdict has been handed down and all legal recourses
have been exhausted," Topo said.

He did not reveal the name of the lawmaker. All lawmakers who
were elected on April 5 will take their oaths of office on Oct.
1.

Apart from legal problems, Panwaslu also discovered that there
were 31 legislative council members who had yet to relinquish
their positions as either civil servants or members of the
National Police or Indonesian Military (TNI).

Four legislators were also discovered by Panwaslu to have
submitted forged medical records.

Panwaslu member Rozy Munir said the General Elections
Commission (KPU) would try to deal with the problems affecting
the new legislators before they were sworn in on Oct. 1.

He also said that the committee would soon seek clarification
from the Ministry of National Education and Ministry of Religious
Affairs to determine the authenticity of the diplomas submitted
by legislators, and the Ministry of Home Affairs, National Police
and the TNI as regards the latest status of legislators who were
members of the police or armed forces.

Contacted separately, KPU deputy chairman Ramlan Surbakti
said on Wednesday that there were still various legal problems
affecting some of the new House and local legislative council
members, and gave assurances that the KPU would abide by whatever
decisions were made by the judiciary.

"If final guilty verdicts are handed down before the swearing-
in ceremonies, the members will be replaced by those candidates
who came next on the list of candidates. However, if the verdicts
are handed down after they take their oaths, then they can be
replaced by the relevant political parties," he said.