Regents abuse election rules: C. Java panwaslu

Regents abuse election rules: C. Java panwaslu

Suherdjoko and Slamet Susanto, The Jakarta Post, Semarang/Yogyakarta

Eleven regents in Central Java have allegedly abused their powers
and conducted preliminary "campaigns" for the Indonesian
Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan), which supported
them in their regental elections.

The fact that some of them had concurrently assumed the top
post of local party branches had contributed to the
irregularities, said Nur Hidayat Sardini, chairman of the Central
Java Election Supervisory Committee (Panwaslu).

"The data (on the irregularities) was based on reports from
the regental Panwaslu," he said on Friday.

Regents accused of abusing their powers are those of Demak,
Grobogan, Purbalingga, Kendal, Sukoharjo, Sragen, Cilacap,
Banyumas, Brebes, Banjarnegara and Batang regencies.

The four regents who had concurrently assumed posts as heads
of PDI Perjuangan branches, said Nur Hidayat, were the regents of
Kendal, Brebes, Demak and Batang.

In Central Java, 22 of 35 mayors or regents won the elections
with the backing of PDI Perjuangan.

Nur Hidayat gave a few examples of irregularities perpetrated
by the regents: The Demak regent urged teachers to buy and wear
red jackets at official functions, while the Grobogan regent
toured the region in a car with a logo of a bull on the hood.

PDI Perjuangan's party logo features a black bull on a red
background.

"We are collecting evidence on the alleged abuses of power and
the early 'disguised' campaigns," he said, and once the evidence
was solid, the Central Java Panwaslu would report to police.

Separately, Murdoko, head of the party's Central Java chapter,
said he had instructed PDI Perjuangan's regents or mayors in the
province to avoid using government facilities for the benefit of
the party.

He had also ordered them not to conduct any early campaigns.

"They have misinterpreted what was meant by a 'disguised'
campaign. What I meant ... was that they should issue and
implement popular policies to raise the image of the party in the
eyes of the public.

"In this way, local residents will understand that the cadres
of PDI Perjuangan are able to lead," he said.

Separately in Yogyakarta, an election official said on Friday
that 370 of 555 legislative candidates for the provincial council
had failed to comply with the requirements as established by the
Yogyakarta General Elections Commission (KPU). The qualifying
candidates are to vie for 50 seats in the Yogyakarta provincial
council in April's general elections.

"Most of them are still failing to include, for example,
medical records, so that we have to reject their applications,"
said Suparman, head of Yogyakarta provincial KPU.

However, he said aspiring legislators still had 14 days until
the deadline to complete their applications.

Meanwhile, in Yogyakarta municipality, three legislative
candidates were disqualified for being underage.

Nasrullah, head of Yogyakarta municipal KPU, said the three
were Purwanti, 19, Catur Cahyono, 18 -- both from the Indonesian
Unity Party (PSI) -- and Renny Setyawati, 19, from the Freedom
Party.

Under the General Elections Law, legislative candidates must
be a minimum 21 years of age.