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The General Elections Commission on Friday said it had received reports that some legislative candidates were unqualified for office as they had used fake diplomas or had failed to give up their previous positions in government.

Endang Sulastri, a member of the commission, also known as the KPU, refused to divulge the names or number of candidates involved. She said the KPU would wait for any investigations to conclude before acting on the allegations.

“In the case of a fake diploma, it is the right of law enforcers, such as police and judges, to decide,” she said. “If there is a court verdict that convicts someone for using a fake certificate, we will eliminate that person as a candidate.”

Last October, the Elections Supervisory Board (Bawaslu) accused then-candidate Sukmawati Sukarnoputri, the daughter of President Sukarno, of using a fake school certificate to register for the election. However, Sukmawati withdrew from the race and police later dropped the charges, citing a lack of evidence.

Endang said that if parties wanted to replace a candidate, they should do so at least three weeks before the inauguration, scheduled for Oct. 1.

“After the inauguration, parties have to do a midterm replacement,” she said.

Endang also urged political parties to consider fairness and voter preferences when replacing candidates.

“It is better for the parties to give the seat to the candidate who gained the second highest number of votes,” she said.

The Election Law gives party board members free reign to replace candidates who give up their seats or are found to be unqualified.

Endang said that so far, two candidates had given up their candidacy in order to retain their seats: Minister of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Freddy Numberi and Minister of Sport and Youth Affairs Adhyaksa Dault.

Dault said on Thursday that he felt obliged to complete his term as minister and expected to return to academia if he was not reappointed to the ministry. Camelia Pasandaran