Panwaslu sets deadline for parties' complaints

Panwaslu sets deadline for parties' complaints

JAKARTA (JP): The Election Supervisory Committee (Panwaslu) on
Wednesday gave all 27 political parties that have refused to sign
the official poll report until 5 p.m. Thursday to file their
complaints of election irregularities.

Djoeharmansyah Djohan, spokesman for the General Elections
Commission (KPU), told The Jakarta Post that Panwaslu sent a
letter regarding the deadline to the commission on Wednesday.

He said the letter, which was personally delivered to KPU
chairman Rudini, also stipulated that Panwaslu would directly
endorse the election results if the 27 parties missed the
deadline.

Earlier this week, the commission gave representatives of the
27 parties the opportunity to change their minds and accept the
election results, after Panwaslu verified their complaints.

The small parties' refusal to endorse the poll results has
received strong criticism.

Mahfud MD, a professor of constitutional law at Indonesian
Muslim University (UII) in Yogyakarta, called the 27 political
parties "immature".

"While unable to win the people's support in the elections,
they should accept their defeat and respect other parties
securing the support. They must be democratic," Antara quoted him
as saying in Yogyakarta on Thursday.

Abdurrahman Wahid, chairman of the largest Muslim organization
Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), said at NU's secretariat on Wednesday that
it was the small parties' right not to endorse the election
results. "However, the poll results will remain valid without
their endorsement."

Similarly, Yogyakarta Governor and monarch Sri Sultan
Hamengukubuwono X doubted the rationale provided by the small
parties.

However, Harun Alrasid, who resigned as KPU deputy chairman
early this month, said it was the authority of the KPU, not the
President, to endorse the election results.

Quoting the 1999 electoral law, he said the election results
are valid if at least two-thirds of the KPU's members ratify
them.

In a plenary meeting on Wednesday, the 27 political parties
questioned Rudini, who delivered the election results on Monday
afternoon to President B.J. Habibie.

Rudini, who has been widely criticized for rejecting the
election results, said the elections commission in its plenary
session on Thursday is expected to propose a political
"breakthrough" to encourage them to endorse the poll results.

He declined to specify what kind of political breakthrough the
commission would propose to the president.

Scandal

Meanwhile, sources at the commission expressed concern over
the KPU's tarnished image since it was established in March.

They said many KPU members were involved in a graft scandal
with a number of printing companies that won the bid to print
more than 140 million ballot papers for the recent elections.

"At least three commission members were involved in the graft
scandal," one source said, adding that the case had been reported
to the commission's secretary-general.

He said Syafiuddinsyah Nasution, who has been absent from the
election commission's sessions in recent weeks for health
reasons, was suspected by commission members of receiving Rp 1
billion (US$149,253) as a kickback from a big printing firm.

Syafiuddinsyah, a representative of the Peace Loving Party,
has yet to announce its party's stance on the election results.

A total of 19 firms won the ballot printing project, worth
around Rp 1.4 trillion in total.

Another source said many KPU members have also proposed some
60 percent hike to their meeting session fees, from the current
Rp 150,000 to Rp 250,000.

"It is crazy and the KPU has no sense of crisis because
besides the incentive, KPU members have also been paid about Rp 2
million monthly," he said.

Meanwhile, the University Network for Free and Fair Elections
(Unfrel) denied on Wednesday all corruption charges involving
accountability of foreign financial assistance.

"Our operations have been funded by the United Nations
Development Program (UNDP) and the United States Agency for
International Development (USAID).

"The fund from UNDP has been allocated for operational costs
of Unfrel's 22 regional secretariats, amounted Rp 26.37 billion
(US$3.7 million), while the Rp 4.49 billion (US$640,000) fund
from USAID has been allocated to finance our national secretariat
activities," Dicky C. Pellupessy, Unfrel's executive director,
said in press conference.

He said Unfrel spent only Rp 24 billion of the total fund and
would return the remaining Rp 6.8 billion to donors.

"A financial audit by an independent auditor is on the go, so
there is no grounds to accuse us of embezzling the donors'
money," he said.

Meanwhile, Pellupessy's colleague Todung Mulya Lubis charged
that the allegations were defamatory. "The allegation was not
supported with sufficient evidence." (rms/05/har)