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KPU demands Gerindra remove Taufik from its candidate list
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Jakarta Legislative Council deputy speaker Mohamad Taufik at the City Council building in Central Jakarta on Jan. 29. (kompas.com/Jessi Carina)
T
he Jakarta General Elections Commission (KPU Jakarta) has issued a letter to the Gerindra Party’s Jakarta executive board asking it to replace councilor Mohamad Taufik on its list of legislative candidates because of Taufik’s background as a former corruption convict.
Based on KPU Regulation No. 20/2018, political parties are required to exclude individuals who have been convicted of corruption, sexual crimes against children and drug dealing from their candidate lists. If the KPU discovers such candidates running in the 2019 election, it will disqualify them immediately and ask the related political parties to submit replacements.
KPU Jakarta head Betty Epsilon Idroos said the KPU Jakarta had received confirmation about Taufik’s background from the court, the head of the correctional facility and the media.
“We delivered the letter to ask the political party to find [Taufik’s] replacement based on KPU Regulation No. 20/2018,” Betty said on Thursday as quoted by kompas.com.
Betty said the name of the new legislative candidate should be submitted before Aug. 8.
Taufik, who currently serves as the council’s deputy speaker, was declared guilty of corruption in 2004 while he was the head of the KPU Jakarta.
The court sentenced him to 18 months in prison for causing state losses of Rp 488 million (US$33,687) in a corruption case surrounding the procurement of election materials.
Taufik has filed a judicial review to the Supreme Court to challenge the KPU regulation. (cal)
