KPU gets tough over fake diploma

M. Taufiqurrahman, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

Numerous newly elected councillors across Indonesia could lose their seats after the General Elections Commission (KPU) ordered local commissions to take swift action against councillors who used false school diplomas.

According to data from the Election Supervisory Committee (Panwaslu), there were at least 405 councillors implicated in false diploma cases across Indonesia. They come mostly from East Java, where 53 cases have arisen, followed by North Sumatra with 33 and Central Java with 21.

The KPU issued a circular on Friday ordering local elections commissions (KPUDs) to take swift measures to deal with new council members accused of forging their school diplomas.

The circular said that should a local district court decline to hear a diploma forgery case involving a councillor, the KPUDs would need only a recommendation from the local education office to make a decision on the status of the legislator in question.

"If the local education office decides that the diploma is fake, the KPUDs can immediately remove name of the candidate from the list of elected legislators," KPU chairman Nazaruddin Syamsuddin said.

Several district courts have reportedly dismissed diploma forgery cases against councillors, saying the charges had expired. According to the Election Law, the process of prosecuting false diploma cases must not exceed 30 days before reaching the court.

Nazaruddin said a final decision on the authenticity of diplomas could also be obtained from local religious affairs offices, which oversee religious schools.

The circular also says that if legislators are found to have used false diplomas after they have already been sworn in, their respective political parties must replace them.

In an earlier circular issued in May, the KPU ruled that only a final guilty verdict handed down by the Supreme Court on diploma forgery cases could prevent legislators from taking office.

The KPU's latest decision was issued only after a large number of the over 12,000 newly elected legislators nationwide had been installed in their new positions.

There is no guarantee local elections commissions will abide by this new circular because the ruling carries no clear penalties for violators.

The public has also expressed concern about the effectiveness of the circular, saying KPUDs could easily be bribed by legislators eager to hold onto their seats.

Panwaslu hailed the KPU's "belated" decision, saying the circular was in line to its demands.

However, it cautioned that the circular would not be implemented as expected by the KPU.

"KPUD members could have different interpretations of the circular, and we are worried that it will fail to stop fraudulent legislators from taking their seats," Panwaslu member Topo Santoso said in Jakarta.

He said local Panwaslu offices throughout the country would start their own probes to find evidence against "problematic" councillors in order to prosecute them.

Topo also said the KPU was to blame for the rampant use of fake diplomas. He said the commission should have carried out more thorough examinations of the required paperwork filed by legislative candidates in the early stages of registration.