W. Java gov candidates told to report election funds

Yuli Tri Suwarni and Nana Rukmana ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Bandung, Cirebon   |  Thu, 04/17/2008 12:46 PM  |  Headlines

PLAYING WITH FIRE: Supporters of Agum Gumelar and his running mate Nu'man Abdul Hakim burn a banner congratulating Ahmad Heryawan and Dede Yusuf for their apparent victory in the West Java gubernatorial election, in Bandung on Wednesday. Ahmad and Dede lead the preliminary election results, with Agum and Nu'man running second. (JP/Yuli Tri Suwarni)The West Java provincial chapter of the General Elections Commission (KPUD) warned the three governor hopefuls who contested the recent governor race to report their audited campaign funds.

According to the 2007 law on the elections commission, candidates are required to report all collected and spent funds during the two-week campaign, which began March 27 and continued until April 9.

The KPUD sent official letters to three different campaign teams reprimanding them for not reporting.

West Java KPUD spokesman Heri Suherman insisted on a Wednesday deadline, but did not clarify the penalty for not meeting this deadline.

"If they do not give a complete report of campaign funds, the KPUD will not be able to give reports to the President through the minister of home affairs. It will surely delay the installation of the governor-elect," Heri said.

He said campaign team of candidate Agum Gumelar was reprimanded because they had not yet reported funds collected before and during the campaign. The campaign teams of the incumbent governor, Danny Setiawan, and Ahmad Heryawan have also been reprimanded.

According to Heri, there will be no sanctions for those who have not reported, but it will substantially affect the winner's image.

According to initial reports submitted to the West Java KPUD, Danny and running mate Iwan Sulandjana received contributions amounting to Rp 16.38 billion (US$1.82 million), while the pair of Ahmad and Dede Yusuf received Rp 3.29 billion.

Forty-two companies contributed Rp 6.8 million of the total funds collected by Danny and Iwan, each donating a minimum Rp 50 million. The pair also received Rp 1.23 billion from individual donors and another Rp 2.5 billion from two political parties backing them.

Of the total contributions to Danny and Iwan pair, Rp 12.6 billion was spent to buy campaign materials and hold various campaign activities.

Of the Rp 3.2 billion received by Ahmad and Dede, Rp 2.9 billion was spent on stickers and banners, and to pay for stage performances.

As of Wednesday evening, out of 8.65 million votes counted from 26 cities/regencies in West Java, Ahmad and Dede had received 39 percent of the vote, or 3.37 million votes; Agum and running mate Nu'man Abdul Hakim had 35.5 percent, or 3.06 million votes; and Danny and Iwan 25 percent, or 2.21 million votes.

In Cirebon, after installing Subardi as the new mayor for the 2008-2013 period, Danny said he accepted defeat in Sunday's gubernatorial election.

Though he will no longer be part of the administration, he said he would continue to help the province.

"I fully accept the results ... winning or losing depends on God. Even though I will not be in the administration, I will always participate in the development of West Java," he said.

Copyright © 2008 The Jakarta Post - PT Bina Media Tenggara. All Rights Reserved.