Officials accused of campaigning for Mega

Officials accused of campaigning for Mega

Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

Public pronouncements aside, some state officials have been
subtly campaigning for presidential candidate Megawati
Soekarnoputri and her running mate Hazyim Muzadi, the Election
Supervisory Committee (Panwaslu) says.

The committee pledged on Sunday to announce the names of these
state officials in order to deter other officials from taking
sides in the presidential runoff.

"They have violated the principles of freedom, honesty and
fairness in elections," committee member Didik Supriyanto said at
his office here on Sunday.

Didik was accompanied by fellow committee member Rozy Munir
and Panwaslu deputy chairman Saut Hamonangan Sirait.

Didik refused to go into detail on what the committee saw as
campaigning for Megawati, who is the incumbent President, saying
only that incidents included a statement by Minister of Home
Affairs Hari Sabarno, a statement by the director of state-owned
company PT Bukit Asam, Ismet Hermani, and several cases in
Yogyakarta and Riau.

Hari Sabarno told a group of people last week "not to forget
the face of President Megawati".

Panwaslu said the statement, made during a meeting between
Megawati and the group at the State Palace, violated the
principle of fairness.

"It is not wise for a minister to make such a statement. As a
minister, he must maintain his neutrality," Panwaslu chairman
Komaruddin Hidayat said after a recent meeting with the
Independent Committee for Election Monitoring.

Panwaslu also received a report of a statement by Ismet as he
was presenting scholarships to students in Muara Enim regency,
South Sumatra.

Ismet called on residents to vote for "wong kito" (our
people). That could be interpreted as a statement of support for
Megawati because her husband, Taufik Kiemas, grew up in
Palembang, South Sumatra.

In Yogyakarta, four bags of T-shirts bearing pictures of
Megawati and Hasyim were found in the headquarters of the
Yogyakarta City Police. Local Panwaslu officials investigated the
case and cleared the police of any wrongdoing.

Didik did not provide any details on the cases in Riau to
which he referred.

Megawati will face Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in a runoff on
Sept. 20. Megawati, leader of the Indonesian Democratic Party of
Struggle (PDI-P), received a boost when the Golkar Party, the
Muslim-based United Development Party (PPP) and the Christian-
based Prosperous Peace Party (PDS) formed a coalition with her
PDI-P to back her election bid.

Panwaslu deputy chairman Saut said any campaigning on the part
of state officials would tarnish the legitimacy of whoever was
elected in the runoff.

He acknowledged that it was difficult for Panwaslu to
establish criminal charges against state officials involved in
this sort of subtle campaigning.

"We will coordinate with the superiors of the perpetrators to
follow up the cases," Saut said.

Panwaslu is concerned that more state officials will violate
their impartiality as the September runoff nears.

This type of subtle campaigning by officials violates the
principles of freedom, honesty and fairness, as stipulated in Law
No. 23/2003 on presidential elections.

Article 40 of the law says that state officials, bureaucrats
and village heads are not allowed to make decisions or take
actions that will benefit or harm a certain presidential
candidate.