PDS supporters violate maximum donation rule: KPU

PDS supporters violate maximum donation rule: KPU

Moch. N. Kurniawan, Jakarta

The General Elections Commission has released a list of
individual donors to the political parties that contested the
legislative election, which shows that the Prosperous Peace Party
(PDS) exceeded the rule stating that the maximum allowable
campaign donation is Rp 100 million (US$11,700).

A KPU document obtained by The Jakarta Post showed that the
PDS had received a total of Rp 132.2 million by way of three bank
transfers from Retna Situmorang, who lives in Cinabung III No 2,
Kebayoran Lama, South Jakarta. The party also received a donation
totally Rp 184.7 million from Cecilia Sianawaty, who lives in
Metro Permata I, Jl. Karang Mulia Blok F1 No 12A, Ciledug,
Tangerang municipality in Banten.

Election Law No. 12/2003 limits maximum campaign donations to
Rp 100 million from individuals and Rp 750 million from firms.

Both Retna and Cecilia could face a maximum punishment of two
years in jail and/or a fine of Rp 1 billion.

When contacted by the Post on Monday, the two were unavailable
for comment.

In her response to the report, PDS treasurer Teguh Ayu
Sianawati said the two supporters had provided donations to the
party, but the KPU had mistakenly recorded them as campaign
funds.

Law No. 21/2003 on political parties stipulates that a party
is allowed to receive a maximum donation of Rp 200 million from
an individual and Rp 800 million from a company annually.

So far, only four of the 24 parties have submitted the names
of campaign fund donors who coughed up more than Rp 5 million, as
required by the electoral legislation.

The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) topped the
list with Rp 111 billion, followed by Golkar with over Rp 82
billion, the PDS with Rp 1.6 billion and the Indonesian Justice
and Unity Party (PKPI) with over Rp 500 million.

However, the list of PDI-P donors did not include the party's
leaders, who are believed to have donated money to the party.
These include chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri, her husband
Taufik Kiemas, and brother Guruh Soekarnoputra.

Senior party members Roy B.B. Janis and Sabam Sirait were
found to have donated Rp 100 million respectively to the Jakarta
chapter of the PDI-P.

On the Golkar list, Golkar chairman Akbar Tandjung, Agung
Laksono, Marwah Daud Ibrahim, Fahmi Idris, Mahadi Sinambela and a
number of other party leaders donated money to Golkar, but the
party's list did not reveal the amount of their donations.

On the PDS list, PDS chairman Ruyandi Hutasoit is among the
party's campaign fund donors.

In PKPI list, PKPI chairman Gen. (ret) Edi Sudradjat is also
listed as a donor to the PKPI campaign war chest.

The electoral legislation does not provide any punishments for
those who violate the rule.

The parties have 60 days to submit their campaign fund reports
to an independent auditor, with the auditor then having 30 days
to complete his audit.

The auditors must submit their audited reports to the KPU and
political parties seven days after the completion of the audit at
the latest.

The KPU will make the audited reports public.