More groups complain over Wardah's findings

More groups complain over Wardah's findings

JAKARTA (JP): Two more organizations filed police complaints
on Wednesday over Urban Poor Consortium chief Wardah Hafidz's
allegations they misused social safety net funds to benefit the
Golkar Party and People's Sovereignty Party (PDR).

Meanwhile, the Election Supervisory Committee admitted it
could neither find evidence to support Wardah's allegations nor
take action against the parties.

Committee chairman Mulyana W. Kusumah told The Jakarta Post
the best he could do was to take the case to the Election
Commission, Supreme Court, Attorney General's Office and State
Audit Agency (BPKP).

Filing complaints on Wednesday were the Public Participation
Center and Women's Participation Cooperative. PDR, which has been
associated with Minister of Cooperatives and Small Enterprises
Adi Sasono as its president, was the first to report their
objections over the accusations to the police.

Eggy Sudjana, who represented the two organizations on
Wednesday, said Wardah's accusations insulted and tarnished their
names.

Nuniek Tasnim Hariani, the cooperative's chairwoman, claimed
she received "not a cent" in safety net funds from the
government.

"We have been Golkar's critic ever since the cooperative was
established 23 years ago," she told reporters.

Separately on Wednesday, Wardah said she continued to be
"terrorized" following her disclosures. In the latest incident,
neighborhood chief Joni instructed her to vacate her office in
East Jakarta on the pretext that the area was earmarked for
residences and not for places of business.

She challenged Joni to take the case to court. She said she
rented the house in the Billy Moon housing complex for Rp 10
million a year from Zumrotin KS, an executive of the Indonesian
Consumers Foundation.

Wardah said she was unfazed by the latest complaints to the
police.

Support for Wardah's efforts to reveal alleged money politics
by PDR and Golkar came from the Independent Election Monitoring
Committee Wednesday.

"Now when everyone yearns for fair and honest elections,
efforts to uncover money politics deserve support," it said in a
statement. "We urge the authorities to investigate the report."

Yogyakarta's electoral supervisory committee reported on
Wednesday it found evidence of PDR's misuse of state facilities
through use of the cooperative ministry's office in Bantul for a
meeting on May 27.

"We have issued a stern warning (to PDR) but any punishment is
the authority of the Election Supervisory Committee in Jakarta,"
said Moh. Mahfud, the Yogyakarta election supervisory deputy
chief. (edt/jun/44)