South Sulawesi Police urged to investigate money politics
Jupriadi, The Jakarta Post, Makassar
The Coalition for the Supervision of Gubernatorial Succession in South Sulawesi (KPSG) has asked the provincial police to investigate allegations of bribery surrounding the gubernatorial election scheduled for Nov. 28.
The coalition, which groups a number of non-governmental organizations and is led by Abraham Samad, met with chief of detectives Sr. Comr. Achmad Abdi to report a number of alleged meetings between representatives of gubernatorial candidates and members of the provincial legislative council.
Abraham said the meetings took place in a hotel in Jakarta in September and October. He also said legislators were given illegal gifts by candidates
"Several members of the legislature visited Singapore in October 2002 and some 20 others were sent to Bali, all sponsored by a certain candidate," he said during the meeting with Achmad.
KPSG comprises the Anti-Corruption Committee, the Legal Aid Institute in Makassar, the South Sulawesi Parliament Watch, Polling Center Ujungpandang, the Reform Association of Indonesian Journalists and the Independent Journalists Association.
Abraham declined to identify the candidate, but said the public would be told his name after an investigation was carried out.
"We are representing the people and we want the police to bring the case to court, as they have enough preliminary evidence to continue the investigation," he said.
The central government has approved six candidates -- three each for governor and deputy governor -- for the election.
The three gubernatorial candidates are Amin Syam, chairman of the legislative council, Nurdin Halid, a member of the House of Representatives, and Aksa Mahcmud, a businessman.
The three deputy governor candidates are Gowa regent Syachrul Yasin Limpo, Iskandar Mandji and Malik Hambali, both businessmen.
A number of NGOs have protested the candidacy of Nurdin Halid, a Golkar Party politician who has been accused of involvement in past corruption cases in the province.
And Syachrul was arrested earlier this year after he was found with drugs and prostitutes in a hotel.
Karaeng Sijaya, a legislator from the Golkar Party, said he did not object to the NGOs filing a police report about the alleged money politics.
"Please, but it will not be easy to get the police to investigate because it will be hard for them to find any evidence," he said.
Amin Syam took a defiant tone about the whole issue. "Please, report the case to the police and let them show all the evidence they have to prosecute us."