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.