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.