Hans Nicholas Jong, Jakarta – The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), the largest opposition party and a front-runner in the 2014 elections, has been dragged further into the web of graft centering on the Hambalang sports complex project in Bogor, West Java.
A trial hearing on Tuesday heard claims that the party used illicit money from the project, which was rife with irregularities, to fund its third congress in Bali in 2010.
PT Metaphora Solusi Global commissioner Muhammad Arifin said during his testimony that PT Adhi Karya director Teuku Bagus Muhammad Noor asked him to provide Rp 500 million (US$43,000) to be given to PDI-P treasurer Olly Dondokambey.
When prosecutor Kiki Ahmad Yani asked Arifin whether the money was intended for an event in Bali in 2010, Arifin said yes. That event is believed to be the party's congress.
In response to the allegation, PDI-P lawmaker Arif Budimanta said that the congress was not funded through illicit means. "All funding came from legitimate sources," he told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday. "[The money was] pitched in together by all PDI-P members."
According to Arif, there was no need for the party to look for money from external sources as the event was conducted in a low-key manner, without lavish accommodation or fancy meals.
"The congress was a modest affair because from the very beginning, it was clear who would be the chairperson [of the party]. All of us wanted Bu Mega to be the chairwoman," he said, referring to Megawati Soekarnoputri, the current chairwoman of the party.
The PDI-P did not need a big budget to fund political campaigns unlike other parties such as the Democratic Party, according to Arif. "All of the party's members who came also paid for their own trip."
The congress was held at the Inna Grand Bali Beach Hotel in Sanur, Bali, from April 6 to 9, 2010. The meeting declared incumbent party chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri as the party leader for the following five years.
PDI-P deputy secretary-general Hasto Kristianto, meanwhile, said that Olly did not serve as the party's treasurer during the congress, and that the event was free from vote-buying.
"The party's chairperson was chosen through acclamation. Therefore, the congress did not need a big budget and there was no need to ask for donations from external sources," he said.
As well as allegedly accepting the money to fund the congress, Olly was also accused of accepting Rp 2.5 billion in kickbacks from PT Adhi Karya in return for his services.
Olly, who now serves as the head of the House's Commission XI overseeing finance and banking, served as deputy chairman of the House's budget committee when the Hambalang case occurred.
During Tuesday's court session, Arifin said that the Rp 2.5 billion was borrowed by Teuku from Olly, and thus Teuku was only returning the money he had borrowed. "As far as I know [the money] was a loan repayment for a project," he said. Arifin, however, said that he did not know for which project the money was intended.
Olly was also accused of accepting two wooden dining table sets from the company, which won the tender for the Hambalang project. The furniture was confiscated by the KPK during a search in Sept. 2013.
Hamdi Muluk, a political psychologist at the University of Indonesia (UI), said the allegations could be used as ammunition by other parties to attack the PDI-P.
"It will certainly be politicized by the party's opponents as the PDI-P has been gaining momentum and Jokowi's popularity is also on the rise," he said, referring to Jakarta Governor Joko "Jokowi" Widodo.