Suherdjoko and M. Taufiqurrahman, Semarang/Jakarta – Central Java's Semarang General Elections Supervisory Committee (Panwaslu) discovered on Tuesday that three related companies had contributed to the Megawati Soekarnoputri-Hasyim Muzadi campaign fund.
The three firms, PT Matahari Jaya Makmur, PT Matahari Silverindo Jaya and PT Mega Mulya Keramic, which are all owned or partly owned by Budiono, were found to have donated Rp 750 million (US$83,333) each to the Megawati-Hasyim campaign fund.
Panwaslu embarked on the investigation after receiving reports from Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW) and Transparency International (TI) Indonesia that the Megawati-Hasyim campaign team received donations from a number of sources with dubious identities.
"The three companies are related as they are owned or partly owned by Budiono. He is the executive director of PT Matahari Jaya Makmur and PT Matahari Silverindo Jaya while at the same time he owns shares in PT Mega Mulya Keramik," said Panwaslu member Husni Thamrin.
The three companies, however, are not fictitious as TI Indonesia and ICW alleged, and managed to produce receipts of money transferred to the Megawati-Hasyim campaign fund account, tax numbers (NPWP) and other documents proving that the companies are legal entities.
Suspicion surfaced because the Megawati campaign team failed to disclose the identities of the three companies in its financial report to the General Elections Commission (KPU).
During six hours of questioning on Tuesday, staffers from the companies acknowledged that their firms donated Rp 750 million each to the Megawati-Hasyim campaign fund.
"I was instructed by the PT Mega Mulya Keramik executive director to record the Rp 750 million Bank Mandiri transfer," said company operational manager Sugiyatiningsih.
An executive from PT Matahari Silverindo Jaya Tandiono said that the donation was decided upon in a meeting of the company's board of directors.
Panwaslu has yet to announce whether it will investigate the case further. The Presidential Election Law states that candidates can be disqualified if proven to have accepted funds from sources with unclear identities, from foreign institutions or donations from the government and government-related sources but fail to report them to the KPU within 14 days.
The law also stipulates that the maximum amounts of donation for presidential candidates are Rp 750 million from a private company and Rp 100 million from an individual.
Separately, after protracted deliberations with the KPU, the House of Representatives budgetary committee agreed to disburse Rp 62.9 billion (US$6.9 million) in bridging funds to help the commission organize the Sept. 20 election runoff.
Speaking after a meeting with the committee, KPU deputy chairman Ramlan Surbakti said that the shoestring budget had been approved and would soon be disbursed from the state treasury to help the commission procure poll equipment for the runoff.
"The bridging fund will be disbursed, although the budgetary committee has yet to approve the KPU's proposal for a total of Rp 419 billion in additional funds for the second round of the election. We badly need the bridging fund because preparations for the runoff must go on," Ramlan said.
From the bridging fund, the KPU will allot Rp 10 billion to pay for the printing of ballot papers, Rp 5.6 billion to procure various forms for poll organizers, Rp 7 billion to distribute ballot papers and other printed materials and Rp 6.9 billion for additional operational fees.