TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
PAN denies vote buying
A political consultant with the National Mandate Party (PAN) has denied that Rp 510 million (US$44,370) in cash confiscated by police officers during an operation codenamed Operasi Cipta Kondisi in Yogyakarta on April 6 was intended to buy votes
Change Size
A
political consultant with the National Mandate Party (PAN) has denied that Rp 510 million (US$44,370) in cash confiscated by police officers during an operation codenamed Operasi Cipta Kondisi in Yogyakarta on April 6 was intended to buy votes.
It is said the money - carried in a Toyota Avanza - was to be used to pay 2,000 party volunteers.
'The money was from the PAN central executive board [DPP] and given to me to pay 2,000 volunteers in Yogyakarta,' said the political consultant, Eko Satria Hermawan, at the Elections Monitoring Agency (Bawaslu) Yogyakarta branch on Tuesday as quoted by kompas.com.
Eko said his company had a contract with the DPP PAN to set up a group of volunteers to boost the party's image prior to the legislative election on April 9. However, he said, the volunteers were not directly under the PAN as well as its campaign teams and legislative candidates.
'I recruited the volunteers professionally and trained them professionally. The volunteers worked professionally. We have a work contract in doing this,' said Eko.
Eko, who is also PT Lokalindo Surabaya director, said the RP 500 million in cash in the car would be used to pay 2,000 volunteers while the remaining Rp 10 million was allocated for operational activities.
Based on the contract, he said, volunteers who passed the selection process would be paid Rp 300,000 per person for one month. All volunteers had received Rp 100,000 each in the first stage payment. They were set to receive Rp 200,000 in the second and third stage payments when the arrest occurred.
Bawaslu Yogyakarta summoned a PAN legislative candidate, Hanafi Rais, for questioning on Tuesday concerning the money. (put/ebf)
