M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta – A coalition of non-governmental organizations filed a complaint on Wednesday with the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) over corruption allegations concerning the procurement of materials for the legislative election by the General Elections Commission (KPU).
The coalition, consisting of the Independent Committee for Election Monitoring (KIPP), the Indonesian Forum for Budget Transparency, the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH Jakarta), Indonesia Procurement Watch (IPW) and the Indonesian Forum for Parliamentary Concern (Formappi), accused the KPU of involvement in a markup over the procurement of election materials that inflicted some Rp 375 billion (US$41.6 million) in losses on the state.
"Based on our findings and analysis, there were large markups in budget expenditure for the legislative election. All KPU members and officials at the commission's secretariat-general were involved," coalition spokesman Hermawanto said.
In its report, the coalition alleged that the KPU had spent more than it should have done. It said that the KPU spent an astronomical Rp 204.62 billion, or a 616 percent increase on its original budget of Rp 28.5 billion, on distribution of the materials. State losses were estimated at Rp 176.04 billion.
The elections commission incurred Rp 56.46 billion in state losses over the procurement of ballot papers, following its decision to increase the number of registered voters from 143.1 million to 147.6 million, and to raise the number of reserve ballots from 2.5 percent to 10 percent.
"This is a blatant violation of the law on legislative elections, which set the figure at 2.5 percent," it said.
In the procurement of ballot boxes and polling booths, the KPU allegedly spent an additional Rp 111.1 billion and Rp 28.5 billion respectively.
The commission also allegedly accrued Rp 2.7 billion from the purchase of 438 cars that were distributed to provincial elections commissions (KPUDs).
The coalition also demanded the KPK use the authority at its disposal to force the election commission to abandon its secrecy when agreeing contracts with private firms.
"To curb corruption and collusion in the future, the KPK must order the commission to be transparent on all contracts with private firms," said Erna Ratnaningsih of LBH Jakarta.
The coalition gave the KPK three weeks to take follow-up action on its report.
KPK member Erry Riyana Hardjapamekas said that besides the coalition's report, his commission had also received similar reports from other institutions. "If the data is complete we shall carry out our own audit, which could lead to an investigation," he said.
Contacted separately, KPU deputy chairman Ramlan Surbakti said that all commission members were ready to face a summons from the KPK.
Ramlan defended the KPU's decision to hike the legislative election budget, saying that it was a consequence of having such a short time in which to prepare for the election. "Our first priority was to organize the election on time; we had to pay, whatever the cost," he said.
He cited as an example that a delay in the printing of ballot papers had prompted the commission to spend more on distribution so that the ballots would reach the country's far-flung regions.
The government had to issue a regulation in lieu of law to delay elections in some of the country's regions after the commission failed to distribute election materials in time.