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Errors Could Cause 4 Candidates to Lose House Seats
Camelia Pasandaran | September 07, 2009

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Four legislative candidates announced as winners by the General Elections Commission would have to sit out the inauguration scheduled for Oct. 1 if the Elections Supervisory Board has its way.

On Sunday, Wirdianingsih, a member of the board, also known as Bawaslu, said the four candidates were not qualified for the candidacy and could be dropped.

“Their qualifications to become new House members are still questionable,” she said.

Eri Purnomo Hadi, a candidate of the National Mandate Party (PAN), may face disqualification due to his current status as a committee member for BPMigas, a state-owned enterprise. Suwardjono, a candidate of the Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra), may be disqualified as he failed to relinquish his post as a government official and is also facing allegations of possessing a fake diploma.

The other two candidates, Ahmad Daeng Se’re and Moch Mahfud, both of the United Development Party (PPP), may also face disqualification as they were not registered on the temporary candidate list.

All other new legislative members were announced last week by the commission, which is also known as the KPU.

Bawaslu plans to submit the result of its investigation into the four candidates to the KPU on Wednesday.

“We have already summoned the party representatives and plan to summon the candidates and KPU members,” Wirdianingsih said. “We will likely recommend that the KPU drop these candidates.”

Concerning the two candidates that were not registered on the temporary candidate list, Wirdianingsih said the body had received contradictory information from the party and the KPU.

“The PPP said that the candidates were replacing other candidates,” she said. “However, if this is true, the KPU should have informed us that there was a revision to the candidate list.”

“Meanwhile, we received a statement from a KPU officer saying that a commission employee had lost the files of the two candidates, which meant that they were never placed on the voters list.”

In addition to these discrepancies, the KPU must also address a problem in Papua, in which commission officials admitted to losing some data that should have been calculated during the national vote tabulatio n.

A seat that was previously allocated to a candidate from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) was transferred to a Gerindra candidate because of the error.

Hadar Gumay, chairman of the Center for Electoral Reform (Cetro) said if the KPU was at fault, the two candidates who were not on the candidate list should still be awarded their seats.

“Actually, as required by law, the candidates should be on the temporary list,” Hadar said. “But if it is a KPU mistake, we should not punish them,” he said. “They should be inaugurated and we will sanction the KPU. The KPU must be responsible.

“We will never know whether it really was a technical error or a conspiracy between the KPU and a political party.”

Syamsul Bahri, a member of the KPU, said that the commission had not made any errors during the registration of the candidat es.

“I haven’t heard about the missing files,” he said.

“What I know is that the party appointed two new candidates to replace those two other candidates who were not listed on the [candidate] list as they were not qualified .”

Syamsul said the switching of candidates should not have become a problem. “Changing candidates on the temporary list is not a mistake,” he said.

However, Andi Nurpati, another KPU member, previously said the commission would implement all of Bawaslu’s recommendations in the case.

The candidacy of four ministers is also yet to be settled as they have not yet stepped down from their posts.




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