Presidential candidates required to report donors

Presidential candidates required to report donors

Moch. N. Kurniawan, Jakarta

The General Elections Commission (KPU) has announced that
presidential and vice presidential candidates must report to the
KPU all campaign contributions over Rp 5 million (US$581).

KPU deputy chairman Ramlan Surbakti said each pair of
presidential and vice presidential candidates would have to file
an initial report on May 31, with a follow-up on July 1.

"The candidates must submit to the KPU the identity of the
donors, including their addresses and the amount of the
contribution," he said.

The KPU will publicly announce all contributions received by
each candidate the day after it receives the list of the donors.

In addition to the list of their campaign donors, each pair
must submit a complete report of all sources of their campaign
funds to the KPU by July 8.

On July 10, the KPU will appoint independent auditors to
examine those reports. The audit is scheduled to be completed by
July 25 and the KPU will also announce the outcome of those
audits on July 28.

The presidential election law limits the campaign
contributions for a presidential candidate to Rp 100 million for
an individual and Rp 750 million for a company or organization.

A violation carries a maximum sentence of two years in jail
and/or a Rp 1 billion fine.

All presidential pairs will also be banned from receiving
donations from foreign groups or individuals. They also cannot
take contributions from anonymous contributors, the government or
state-owned enterprises.

Presidential and vice presidential candidates who receive
funds from those prohibited sources must not use the money and
must report it to the KPU by July 14.

The law also calls for jail time and fines for submission of a
fake campaign contribution report.

Separately, KPU member Anas Urbaningrum said on Sunday that
the presidential candidate from the Democratic Party, Susilo
Bambang Yudhoyono, and his Indonesian Democratic Party of
Struggle counterpart President Megawati Soekarnoputri would on
Monday register for the July 5 election along with their running
mates Jusuf Kalla and Hasyim Muzadi respectively.