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.