Ryaas denies receiving bribe of Rp 500 million

JAKARTA (JP): State Minister of Regional Autonomy Ryaas Rasyid denied on Wednesday accusations that he accepted a bribe of Rp 500 million to facilitate the election of Hasan Zein as governor of Bengkulu.

"I have never received a single cent from Hasan Zein," Ryaas said during a media briefing at the home affairs ministry.

"If I am found guilty of taking bribes, I swear by my religion that I will hold a ceremony in this very room and publicly commit suicide."

Ryaas was responding to allegations in a statement circulated among protesters during his visit on Monday to the provincial council in Bengkulu.

A written statement issued by the Bengkulu Community Forum accused Ryaas, who was director general of public administration and regional autonomy at the time, and 29 other members of the provincial council of smoothing the process of Hasan's election on Nov. 8.

As reported by Antara, the statement was distributed during the protest, which was held by the Bengkulu branch of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan).

Ryaas was clearly incensed by the accusation, saying that he was considering a libel suit.

He said the circulated statement also contained fundamental errors.

He said his birth date was identified as March 12, 1950, instead of Dec. 7, 1949. He noted that he had never lived at the ministry's housing complex in Pondok Labu, South Jakarta, as claimed.

Ryaas claimed that as a director general whose responsibility it was to oversee such affairs, he often received "honorariums" when attending elections at provincial councils.

He acknowledged that he received Rp 5 million each for attending the East Java and South Sumatra gubernatorial elections, and Rp 2.5 million for the West Nusa Tenggara election.

"But during the Bengkulu gubernatorial election, I did not receive anything," he said.

Allegations of payoffs to Cabinet members have been rife, with President Abdurrahman Wahid himself indicating that three of his ministers were be investigated.

Ryaas said that if he was summoned by the President and felt that Abdurrahman's manner indicated he believed the allegations, "then I would resign then and there".

When asked about the fate of the newly elected Bengkulu governor, Ryaas said that his election could not be confirmed yet by the Ministry of Home Affairs as a special team was investigating alleged kickbacks in the election.

The team began its work on Monday.

"The investigative team has been working since Monday, and they are not only looking into Bengkulu, but also Jambi," Ryaas explained.

In the Bengkulu election, Hasan received 24 of the 45 votes on the council, ahead of his two rivals, provincial investment planning board chairman Syahrir and local environmental official Rahmat Rani, who received 18 and three votes respectively. (mds)