Surabaya mayoral candidates go on fat spending binge

Indra Harsaputra, The Jakarta Post, Surabaya

Candidates standing in the Surabaya mayoral election have admitted to going on a spending spree during the campaign, but seem determined to continue spending in a last-ditch effort to woo undecided voters.

The chairman of the Bambang D.H./Arif Affandi campaign team, Saleh Mukadar, said that his team had spent Rp 50 million each day (US$5,319) during the campaign on such things as hiring local entertainers, purchasing T-shirts, and telephone calls. The Rp 50 million did not include advertising costs.

In order to cover its expenses, the team was not relying solely on the two candidates, but also raised funds from other sources such as private individuals and firms in the city.

"Our campaign team has some 7,000 members and all have been busy raising funds from bureaucrats, businesspeople and the public at large," said Saleh.

All the hard work appears to have been successful. According to data from the General Elections Commission (KPU), the Bambang D.H./Arif Affandi ticket had raised the most money at Rp 3.32 billion, followed by the Erlangga Satriagung/A.H. Tony ticket on Rp 545.8 million, the Gatot Soedjito/Benjamin Hilly ticket on Rp 400 million and the Alisjahbana/Wahyudin Husein ticket on Rp 100 million.

Besides approaching businessmen and members of the public, the Bambang D.H./Arif Affandi campaign team also requires councillors from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) to make donations as the pair were nominated by the PDI-P.

Councillor Krisnadi Nasution from the PDI-P said that he had contributed Rp 15 million out of his own pocket to the campaign.

Erlangga Satriagung and A.H. Tony, who were nominated by the National Mandate Party (PAN), said that they also approached businesspeople and the public at large but they never forced anyone to contribute money.

"We prioritize the personal and emotional approaches in raising funds rather than the coercive approach," said Tony.

The Gatot Sudjito/Benyamin Hilly and the Alisjahbana/Wahyudin Husein campaigns both rely on funding from the respective candidates and contributions from their supporters.

Widarto, the secretary to the Indonesian Association of Accountants (IAI), said that financial contributions from the public were untraceable as the bookkeeping system used was different to the system used by companies. Consequently, it was difficult to trace and audit from where the money came from. Moreover, an auditor had no right to qualify an opinion if there were irregularities in the spending of funds or funding sources.

"We don't know whether the money comes from graft as a public accountant is required only to record the total amount of money involved and report it to the KPU. We don't investigate where the money comes from," said Widarto.

Meanwhile, the director of the Center for Democracy and Human Rights Studies, Mohammad Asfar, said that a study had found that a sample of 1,000 respondents said that what they had seen and heard during the campaign would not encourage them to switch their party loyalties.

"Therefore, all the money they spent may not be enough to attract new voters," said Asfar.