Infractions decline in third week of presidential campaign
Infractions decline in third week of presidential campaign
M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta
The General Elections Supervisory Committee (Panwaslu) recorded a
decline in the number of violations committed by the candidates
in the third week of the month-long presidential campaign.
However, Panwaslu predicted that breaches of campaign
regulations would increase in the final week, when the candidates
would be desperate to win support from prospective voters ahead
of the July 5 presidential election.
The official supervisory committee said on Wednesday it
recorded 64 offenses combined, consisting of 54 administrative
and 10 criminal, declining from 72 the week before.
Panwaslu said the inclusion of civil servants in the
campaigning was the most common criminal infraction that had
taken place in the third week of campaigning.
"However, we've had difficulties finding out who induced the
officials to take part in the presidential campaign," Panwaslu
member Didik Supriyanto announced during a press briefing here.
Law No. 23/2003 on presidential elections bans state officials
from campaigning without leave but it does not say whether their
presence at a rally is a violation.
The law stipulates that the parties who asked or ordered the
state officials to be involved in campaigning could be prosecuted
while the bureaucrats could face administrative penalties.
At the top of the list of violators were the National Mandate
Party's (PAN) Amien Rais and Siswono Yudhohusodo with 19 offenses
consisting of five administrative and four criminal infractions,
an increase from 11 violations the week before.
The Rais team has also been discovered by Panwaslu committing
infractions ranging from campaigning outside the designated
schedule to including civil servants in their rallies.
President Megawati Soekarnoputri from the Indonesian
Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and her team had the second
largest number of offenses with 17, comprising 15 administrative
and two criminal infractions -- a decline from 25 the week
before.
The Golkar Party's candidate Wiranto along with his running
mate Solahuddin Wahid were third with 13 infractions.
Presidential frontrunner Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono along with
his running mate Yusuf Kalla and the pairing of the United
Development Party's (PPP) Hamzah Haz and Agum Gumelar came in
fourth and fifth with nine and six infractions, respectively.
Panwaslu's records show that most of the violations took place
in Jakarta with 12 violations, followed by Central Java where it
saw 10 offenses and West Java with seven cases.
Didik said that in the third week of campaigning, Panwaslu
received reports from the public about alleged vote-buying that
took place during and outside the designated period. "However, in
the latter case, we would find difficulties in bringing such an
offense to the court," he said.
Since the presidential campaign started on June 1, Panwaslu
has registered a total of 190 offenses. The Megawati-Hasyim
ticket has been the top violator with 56.