KPU says campaign fund audit results 'satisfactory'

KPU says campaign fund audit results 'satisfactory'

M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta

Presidential candidates may breathe a sigh of relief, as the
General Elections Commission (KPU) has completed an investigative
audit into their campaign sources and ruled that no further audit
would be necessary, against suggestions from corruption watchdogs
over dubious funding.

KPU member Mulyana W. Kusumah said on Thursday findings from
the five public auditors tasked with probing the origins of
campaign funds for all five candidates had proved adequate.

"All auditors have heeded the agreed-upon procedures in their
work ... and we found it satisfactory," Mulyana said at a press
briefing.

Responding to demands from corruption watchdogs that the
candidacies of Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono-Jusuf Kalla and Megawati
Soekarnoputri-Hasyim Muzadi be put on hold pending clarification
of their "fictitious" funding sources, Mulyana said such a
measure was unnecessary.

"We have learned that the candidates' campaign teams agreed to
surrender funds from dubious sources to the state coffers, so no
further legal measures should be taken," he said.

Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) Transparency
International Indonesia and the Indonesian Corruption Watch
alleged earlier that the two candidates had received donations
from what appeared to be either non-existent or dubious sources.

The Presidential Elections Law stipulates that candidates may
be disqualified if they are proven to have accepted funds from
unclear or unidentified sources -- apart from the government,
government-related sources and foreign institutions -- and if
they failed to report the identities of the sources to the
commission within 14 days.

In a related development, the Indonesian Institute of
Accountants (IAI), an association grouping the country's public
auditors, said on Thursday that three of the five public
accounting offices appointed to conduct the investigative audit
were those with questionable records.

IAI chairman Ahmad Hadisubroto said auditors of Wiranto-
Solahuddin Wahid, Megawati-Hasyim and Amien Rais-Siswono
Yudohusodo were those not trained to audit balance sheets for
campaign funds in the special workshop held by the IAI in
collaboration with the KPU.

"Out of 600 public accounting offices registered with the IAI,
I am absolutely baffled as to why the KPU chose those firms," he
said.

The accounting firms in question are: B. Bangun and Partners,
which audited the Wiranto-Solahuddin funds; Baehaqie and Partners
for Megawati-Hasyim; and Bambang Sutjipto and Partners for Amien-
Siswono.

Syafri Adnan Baharuddin, public sector head at the IAI, said
the little-known accounting firms were given the jobs by the KPU
only after more established firms had declined them.

"The big firms realized that they would make little profit
from the auditing work, while the risk was high," he said.

Syafri said if the firms were found to have applied wrongful
procedures in the campaign fund audit, the IAI would hand down
severe penalties, including the revocation of their licenses.