KPUD reports party for misrepresenting 'member'

Hasrul, The Jakarta Post, Kendari, Southeast Sulawesi

A local poll organizer has reported the Regional United Party (PPD) to the police for using the name of a civil servant in Kendari mayoralty, La Ode Abdul Rahim as a member of its executive board.

Muhammad Arafat, a member at the Kendari General Elections Commission (KPU), said that the PPD's Kendari branch was reported to the police because it had registered the name of the civil servant as a member of its executive board while the party was applying to KPUD to contest the upcoming election, but it was made without Abdul Rahim's consent.

"Worse, Abdul Rahim is a civil servant, so he is not allowed to be on the party's executive board, unless he resigns from his post," said Arafat.

The case was discovered by the KPUD in November last year as the local poll organizer was verifying application documents lodged by the party. The KPUD rechecked with authenticity of the documents with several related parties. When the KPUD tried to confirm with Abdul Rahim that he was a member of the executive board of Kendari's PPD branch, Abdul Rahim claimed he had no idea about it.

The KPUD then conveyed the case to the Kendari Elections Supervisory Committee (Panwaslu) and Panwaslu reported it to the police in December last year.

The police began questioning witnesses in the case on Wednesday.

"I have just been questioned as a witness in the case," Arafat said on Wednesday at the Kendari Police headquarters.

Whether the local KPU will disqualify the party in the upcoming election in the mayoralty depends on the outcome of the investigation by the police, said Arafat.

Other witnesses questioned in the case were Ajessar Boy, a member of Panwaslu, Hasbuddin, a member of Kendari KPUD and La Ode Abdul Rahim.

"We cannot draw any conclusions in this case, because we are still questioning the witnesses and collecting evidence," said Kendari Police chief of detectives First. Insp. Yos Guntur.

Separately, Andi Makmur, the chairman of PPD's Kendari branch, said that the party admitted the mistake. He said that the party had apologized to Abdul Rahim, and Abdul Rahim had accepted the apology.