Panwaslu warns of money politics
Panwaslu warns of money politics
Moch. N. Kurniawan and Muninggar Sri Saraswati,
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Amid the growing trend among most of the 24 political parties to
distribute money or staple food to entice voters, the Election
Supervisory Committee (Panwaslu) warned them on Tuesday not to
offer money during the campaign period.
"Do not fool the people with such charity. It's a crime, and
more importantly, it will tarnish the validity of the overall
election process," said Komaruddin Hidayat, the Panwaslu
chairman.
Komaruddin was speaking to reporters during a press conference
attended by Panwaslu members Topo Santoso, Didiek Supriyanto and
Rozy Munir.
Topo, who heads Panwaslu legal division, asserted that such
cash handouts were considered a crime and, therefore, Panwaslu
would report it to the police for investigation.
Handing out cash during campaigns, locally termed politik uang
(literally "money politics") is against article 77 (1, 2, 3) Law
No. 12/2003, as well as article 39 of KPU instruction No.
701/2003. The crime is punishable by a jail term and fines.
Topo, who is also a criminal law expert, added that
legislative candidates, who are sentenced by courts for giving
away cash to would-be voters, must resign even if they get
elected and are in office when the sentence is finalized.
"We urge all legal enforcers to take this matter very
seriously, and not be easily cheated by parties' maneuvers to
camouflage these with gift, or in-kind, handouts," Topo said.
Panwaslu has recorded a number of such cases, including the
donation of staple foods for poorer voters from the Concern for
the Nation Functional Party (PKPB) during a campaign in Jakarta
and the distribution of money to supporters by the Golkar Party
in Manado, North Sulawesi.
The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and the
Freedom Party (Partai Merdeka) were also reported for offering
door prize to attract people during their campaigns. On Tuesday,
the National Mandate Party (PAN) chairman Amien Rais distributed
door prizes in Madura, East Java. The winner will get an all-
expense paid trip to perform a minor haj pilgrimage in Saudi
Arabia.
Topo made it clear he was irked with the United Development
Party (PPP) leader Hamzah Haz, who is also the current vice
president, for using a Puma helicopter owned by the Indonesian
Military (TNI) to go to a campaign rallies in Sumedang, West
Java, and President Megawati Soekarnoputri for also using state
facilities during her campaign for PDI-P in Pekanbaru and
Tembilahan in Riau.
"We will report administrative violations to the KPU, which
will then decide to impose written warnings or to bar that party
from further campaigning," he explained.
Separately, KPU member Hamid Awaluddin warned Amien Rais, the
current Speaker for the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) and
leader of PAN, to be very precise in the accounting for the use
of the party's new airline donated by his colleague.
"Amien must calculate the spending for the airplane because it
will be considered as a donation, and thus it must abide by Law
No. 12/2003 on election donation limits, which are a maximum of
Rp 100 million from an individual and Rp 750 million from a
company or organization," he said.