The Elections Supervisory Body (Bawaslu) will question Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Wednesday in relation to alleged illegal campaign activities.

Wirdyaningsih, a Bawaslu member, said Tuesday that her agency had issued the summons to Yu-dhoyono’s campaign team due to alleged illegal campaigning held one day before the July 8 presidential election.

“The Bawaslu has summoned Yudhoyono in response to a report from Megawati  Soekarnoputri and Prabowo Subianto,” she said over the phone.

“He [SBY] should be here on Wednesday at around 10 a.m.”

The Megawati–Prabowo pair reported Yudhoyono for allegedly campaigning to all 33 governors in Indonesia during a teleconference with them.

Yudhoyono said after the teleconference that he had called on the governors to help the regional polling bodies ensure a successful presidential election.

The allegation may evolve into a misuse of state power should Yudhoyono, who has been predicted to win his re-election by a landslide, be proven guilty.

Yudhoyono and his running mate Boediono have been predicted to win by more than 60 percent of the vote, with Megawati and Prabowo trailing behind with about 28 percent. The third pair, Jusuf Kalla and Wiranto gained only 12 percent of votes.

Wirdyaningsih added that the Bawaslu also planned to summon the General Elections Commission (KPU) and the US-based International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) about the KPU’s tabulation system, set up with help from the IFES.

“We will also summon KPU officials in response to reports filed by the Megawati-Prabowo campaign team,” she said.

The Megawati-Prabowo campaign team alleges the KPU broke the law by accepting foreign help with its tabulation systemThe KPU launched its online tabulation Website, a vote count of 20 percent of Indonesia’s population using text messages from polling stations on the evening of the election day with the IFES providing the hardware for the system.

She said the Bawaslu would also ask questions about the controversial electoral roll (DPT) and alleged violations at polling stations.

On Monday, the Bawaslu reported that it had found more than 500 administrative and criminal electoral violations, spread evenly across the nation on voting day.

Wirdyaningsih said the KPU officials to be summoned included chief Abdul Hafiz Anshary, head

of logistics Abdul Azis, head of vote counting Andi Nurpati and secretary-general Suripto Bambang Setyadi.

“We will also question an IFES official after questioning KPU officials,” she said, refusing to identify the official saying only that it was a project manager.

In response to the summons, the head of Yudhoyono’s campaign team chief, Hatta Radjasa, said he and the Home Minister Mardiyanto would take the President’s place in answering Bawaslu’s summon as the President was scheduled to leave for Kalimantan.

When asked why the home minister was invited, he said the teleconference with the 33 governors was done in coordination with the home minister.

“It was not possible for Pak SBY to campaign in front of the governors.

“Besides, there were people from other campaign teams present during the press conference. I believe the letter from Bawaslu is inappropriate,” said Hatta.

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