KPU chief pledges innocence in graft case

KPU chief pledges innocence in graft case

Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Chairman of the General Elections Commission (KPU) Nazaruddin
Syamsuddin insisted on Thursday he was innocent in the alleged
high profile corruption at the commission, saying the secretary-
general should be held responsible.

Nazaruddin also said that he was not responsible for the
wrongdoings of his subordinates, saying any irregularities within
the KPU were "the responsibility of the individuals concerned,
and not the institution".

"Why should I be held responsible for (actions taken by) my
subordinates? As KPU chairman, do you think I have to know all
the moves taken by my staff? I am responsible for what they have
done if they stick to the existing regulations, but once they
commit any wrongdoing, they themselves must be held responsible
for it," Nazaruddin said after a seven-and-half-hour
interrogation session at the office of the Corruption Eradication
Commission (KPK) in Central Jakarta.

His defensive statement came after former KPU secretary-
general Safder Yusaac, KPU deputy secretary-general Sussongko
Suhardjo and KPU treasurer Hamdani Amin accused him of being
responsible for the corruption at the KPU.

Both Sussongko and Hamdani have been declared suspects by the
KPK for their alleged involvement in the graft case, which
centers around the collection of a total of Rp 20 billion
(US$2.10 million) in kickbacks from private companies that
provided election materials for the KPU.

Earlier in the investigation, Yusaac, Hamdani and Sussongko
accused Nazaruddin of verbally instructing them to collect
kickbacks in a tactical fund for improving the welfare of KPU
members, some of which was later shared with several officials of
the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) and members of the House of
Representatives.

But Nazaruddin denied on Thursday that he instructed the
secretary-general to collect the tactical fund.

"I have never issued either a written or a verbal instruction
to the secretary-general's office to collect a tactical fund. I
had no idea about it," Nazaruddin said.

Nazaruddin acknowledged that Presidential Decree No. 54/2003
on KPU's framework underlined that the KPU chairman is tasked
with signing proposals, "but I put my signature of approval on
proposals only after the KPU secretary-general, deputy secretary-
general, treasurer and head of monitoring department signed them.

"What does this mean? It means that these officials are
responsible as individuals for what they do," he said.

KPK interrogated Nazaruddin for the third time since the scam
came to the surface in April, when the KPK arrested KPU member
Mulyana W. Kusumah for trying to bribe a state auditor in a bid
to influence the audit of KPU funds.

In Thursday's questioning, Nazaruddin explained to the KPK
investigators procedures on the procurement and payment of
election materials.

Besides Nazaruddin, the KPK investigators also questioned KPU
official Rosadi Kantaprawira and three KPU suppliers.

Elsewhere, Nazaruddin also denied allegations made by his
staff that he had received some US$125,000 of the tactical fund.