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.