KPU accused of misusing funds
JAKARTA (JP): The chairman of the Indonesian Democratic Union Party, Sri Bintang Pamungkas, suggested on Friday that the General Elections Commission (KPU) may have misused electoral funds.
Speaking to journalists here, Sri Bintang said he had strong suspicions of collusion in the use of Rp 20 billion (US$8.69 million) provided to KPU sub-committees.
The abuse of funds, according to Sri Bintang, is evident in the acquisition of various necessities for the elections such as paper, ink and the printing of ballot sheets.
When pressed by journalists for tangible evidence, Sri Bintang said he so far only had his own experience and the confession of another Commission member to back his suspicions.
As reported by Antara, Sri Bintang claimed he had recently declined an offer of a large sum of money by an entrepreneur. He said he suspected the money was out of gratitude for a business contract received from the Commission.
He said another Commission member also admitted to receiving such "gratuity" from an entrepreneur.
"But for the time being it's a bit premature to divulge his name," Sri Bintang replied when journalists asked to name the Commission member.
Sri Bintang said he had tried to meet with KPU chairman Rudini to discuss the matter, however had not been able to do so.
He urged for the KPU to be audited so its credibility would not be called into question.
Violations
Meanwhile in Medan, North Sumatra, the provincial branch of the Independent Election Monitoring Committee (KIPP) reported that severe electoral law violations had occurred in at least four areas: Medan Belawan, Medan Polonia, Medan Tuntungan and Labuhan Batu.
Mulana Samosir, KIPP coordinator in Medan, said violations ranged from the use of forged registration papers to vote-buying.
In Labuhan Batu there was a dubious offer of bonuses at a state-owned company less than 48 hours before the June 7 polls Mulana said.
According to one witness, such bonuses are customary during major religious holidays.
Mulana said these suspected violations had been reported to the provincial supervisory committee, but so far there has been no response.
"In my view the committee is quite weak and not active enough in tackling these violations. It's as if there is some sort of political fear," he remarked.
Meanwhile, the University Network for Free and Fair Elections (Unfrel) said that the balloting of 34,988 Indonesian voters working or studying in Serawak, Malaysia, was not conducted in a free and fair manner.
Unfrel said the voters had been intimidated to vote for a certain party.
Rousdy Said, a member of Unfrel's honorary board, told journalists in Pontianak, West Kalimantan, that many of the conditions set by the General Elections Commission were unapplicable abroad.
He noted that there was not a single witness from the 48 political parties during the elections in Serawak.
He also regretted that several companies refused to permit its employees time off work to go to the polling booth.
Furthermore, he lamented the Malaysian Ministry of Education's policy of recommending that Indonesian students not be given permission to become volunteers in local polling committees because this was considered a political activity.
Rousdy explained that two Indonesian students had to resign from a local committee because of this.(39/mds)