PAN asks police to pursue vote buying allegations

PAN asks police to pursue vote buying allegations

Ahmad Junaidi and Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The National Mandate Party (PAN) urged the police on Tuesday
to question a gubernatorial candidate who reportedly gave 10
cheques worth Rp 450 million each to 10 of the party's coucillors
to vote for him as governor during the recent election.

"The police should investigate the case. I know that he (the
candidate) is a fraudster," councillor Wasilah Sutrisno told
several members of non-governmental organizations (NGO) who
visited the council to protest the election.

Wasilah revealed that the candidate, Endang Darmawan, had also
given out cheques, which were later dishonored, when he stood for
election as the mayor of Yogyakarta two years ago.

"My brother, who is the Yogyakarta chapter chairman of the
United Development Party (PPP), told me that he (Endang) did the
same thing (giving out cheques) then. Endang is from Yogyakarta,"
she said.

A senior PAN councillor, who asked not to be named, revealed
on Tuesday that three of PAN's 13 councillors met businessman
Endang in the Hotel Aryaduta one evening before the election on
Sept. 11.

Endang then asked one of the three councillors to pass on 10
cheques drawn on Bank International Indonesia to 10 councillors
who had not attended the meeting.

The councillor then give the cheques to the 10 councillors at
the Hotel Ibis in Menteng on the same evening. Since the
councillors did not want to accept the cheques, they handed them
over to the party's central board.

Endang, who only secured three votes during the election,
could not be reached for comment on Tuesday.

"I regret that my friends were playing footsie with other
candidates even though our party chairman Amien Rais had
personally sent 13 letters in support of our own candidate," the
source said.

In the election, PAN had nominated its deputy chairman
Abdillah Toha as deputy governor paired with Tarmidi Suharjo from
the largest faction on the council, the Indonesian Democratic
Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) as governor. The pair only
secured 13 votes while their rival, incumbent Governor Sutiyoso
won the election with 47 votes.

Besides supporting a police probe, PAN's faction secretary
Syamsidar Siregar promised her faction would discuss the issue of
the cheques.

"I don't know anything about the cheques. But we will discuss
them along with other issues involving money politics during the
election," Syamsidar said.

The NGOs visiting the council on Tuesday, which included the
Jakarta Residents Forum (Fakta), the Islamic Defenders' Front and
the Betawi People's Association, also urged the police to
investigate the allegations of money politics during the
election.

"With or without public complaints, the police should
investigate the case," Fakta chairman Azas Tigor Nainggolan said.

Meanwhile, city police spokesman Sr. Comr. Anton Bachrul Alam
said that the police were still investigating the bribery case.

Police have already questioned gubernatorial candidate Mahfudz
Djaelani, who earlier claimed to have paid Rp 200 million to 40
councillors as a down payment out of a total Rp 2 billion if the
councillors elected him as a governor.

Mahfudz then retracted his statement and told police that the
money was used to pay for dinners with the councillors over the
last two years.