Party bribes slip through gaping legal loophole

The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Tue, 06/19/2007 9:41 AM  |  Jakarta

Adisti Sukma Sawitri, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Observers say it is impossible to take legal action against party executives and former governor candidates involved in money politics because of the absence of laws regulating candidate nominations and contributions to political parties.

A political observer at the Indonesian Institute of Sciences, Ikrar Nusa Bakti, said even if parties named and expelled members involved in taking bribes, it was unlikely police and prosecutors would be able to build a case.

""We don't have specific regulations on party nominations and candidate contributions. Their cases would go nowhere,"" he told The Jakarta Post on Monday.

Ikrar said there would only be a case if candidates who were promised certain positions by a party filed a fraud complaint with the police.

He said it was possible a party member who received money from a candidate in trade for the promise of a nomination as a governor or deputy governor candidate could be charged with fraud if this nomination never materialized.

Retired general Slamet Kirbiantoro has said he paid a total of Rp 1.5 billion (US$163,934) to several parties during the nomination process to secure a spot as Fauzi Bowo's running mate.

Another retired general, Djasri Marin, says he spent Rp 2 billion on the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and the United Development Party (PPP) to secure nomination as Fauzi's running mate.

In the end neither general won the nomination, with Fauzi instead tapping another general, Prijanto, a former territorial assistant to Army Chief of Staff Djoko Santoso.

Those close to Fauzi say he hand-picked his running mate to appeal to as many parties as possible in his coalition, to avoid any friction.

The central boards of the PDI-P and the PPP have promised to take strong measures against any members who accepted money from the candidate hopefuls.

While it may be impossible to bring these cases to the police, Ikrar hoped they would spur authorities to revise the Regional Autonomy Law and Political Parties Law to cover such practices.

These two laws regulate contributions to candidates and political parties, but say nothing about payments by candidates to political parties for their support.

Another political observer, M. Fadjroel Rachman, worried these incidents could harm public trust in the electoral process.

""Now people know that a candidate with Rp 1.5 billion could not win the support of political parties, so how much money did the successful candidates have to spend to secure nomination?"" he said.

Fadjroel said he expected to see more eligible voters skip the gubernatorial election than did not vote in the 2004 legislative election, as a result of the growing distrust and apathy toward the political process.

In 2004, about 33 percent of some four million eligible voters did not cast ballots.

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