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)