The dead support DPD candidates

The dead support DPD candidates

MATARAM, West Nusa Tenggara: The use of identity cards of
deceased people are among irregularities found in applications by
candidates here to contest next year's election of West Nusa
Tenggara's Regional Representatives Council (DPD).

Members of the General Elections Commission (KPU) in the
province said on Friday they had uncovered several other
violations by candidates who are soliciting support for their DPD
bids that requires a minimum quota of 2,000 copies of identity
cards (IDs).

In West Lombok regency, a verification team of the provincial
KPU found that at least two IDs of dead people were used by
candidates as evidence of support for their DPD bids.

The IDs were taken from a migrant workers recruitment firm in
the regency, the KPU members said.

They added that some West Lombok DPD aspirants also used the
IDs of local citizens who were working in Malaysia or had become
Malaysian citizens.

In Bima regency, a campaign team for the candidates visited
dealerships to "buy" IDs belonging to car or motorcycle buyers at
Rp 5,000 per copy, they said.

Normally, prospective buyers have to give copies of their IDs
in order to buy cars or motorcycles in installments.

The local KPU members said other candidates also used IDs of
poor people collected by the local administrations as
requirement to get cheap rice.

Provincial KPU chairman Mahali Fikri said people, who found
that their IDs had been used by DPD candidates without their
consent, should report it to the police.

Earlier, the provincial KPU announced that 40 percent of the
135,000 IDs to support 46 DPD candidates were damaged, illegal or
had expired. --JP