Hans Nicholas Jong, Jakarta – All 12 political parties contesting the 2014 legislative election could face the prospect of being disqualified from the race as none have submitted their second campaign fund report only days before the March 2 deadline.
KPU legal bureau head Nur Syarifah said on Tuesday that of the 12 parties, only the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) had pledged to submit all three reports on Friday, two days before the deadline.
"The PDI-P has said that it will submit the reports on Feb. 28," she told reporters in her office at KPU headquarters in Central Jakarta.
Nur said that the PDI-P had made the right decision by planning to submit the reports before the deadline. "It wants to take advantage of the extra time [before the deadline] to fix any possible errors in its report, such as a lack of signatures."
The KPU requires all political parties to submit three reports on donations they received for campaign funds, on bank accounts used solely to pool funds used in their political campaigns and details on how the money would be spent on campaigns.
"The harshest punishment will be handed down to parties who fail to submit reports on how they will spend their campaign funds," Nur said. "The deadline is March 2 at 6 p.m. If they miss the deadline, they will be disqualified from the election."
Nur said that there would be leniency for parties that submit complete reports on their campaign donations as well as their bank accounts. For example, if some of the signatures of legislative candidates who made donations were not available, then the KPU would allow them to send the documents via email even after the deadline has passed.
While no parties have submitted all three reports, the Crescent Star Party (PKB) and the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) have submitted reports on their bank accounts.
The KPU earlier required political parties to disclose details on individuals or companies that provided campaign donations.
The parties will not be allowed to hide the identity of their donors. The poll body also required campaign donors who contributed more than Rp 30 million (US$2,571) to provide their tax numbers on the list.
The KPU has also struck a deal with the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (PPATK) regarding a joint investigation into possible campaign fund violations.
Political parties have often ignored demands to release details of their financial management, although Law No. 14/2008 on public information stipulates that political parties are obligated, as public institutions, to provide the public with information within 30 days of receiving a request.
PKS secretary-general Taufik Ridho said that his party was in the process of finishing the remaining two reports. "I am sure that we will be able to meet the deadline," he told The Jakarta Post, adding that the PKS was committed to being transparent in its campaign fund reports.
However, Taufik acknowledged that some of the party's legislative candidates were facing difficulties in completing their financial reports as most Indonesians were not accustomed to conducting financial transactions through banking institutions and, thus, found it difficult to make proper financial reports.
Muhammad Arwani Thomafi, spokesperson for the United Development Party (PPP), said that the Islam-based party would submit the campaign fund reports to the KPU before the deadline. "But we can't give an exact date," he said.
The KPU said that it would provide technical assistance to political parties that required it to prepare the campaign fund reports.
"Starting last Tuesday, we opened a one-on-one consultation session for parties or political candidates experiencing problems with their reports. We have assistance from the Indonesian Accounting Association [IAI]," Nur said. She said that all parties have attended the one-on-one consultation sessions.