(Alleged) Money Politics Scandal
Apr 9th, 2009, in News, by Patung
Press freedom issues over an alleged money politics scandal involving Edhie Baskoro Yudhoyono.
On 6th April the Jakarta Globe newspaper published a report by Camelia Pasandaran detailing corruption allegations made against campaign workers of Edhie/Edy Baskoro Yudhoyono, the son of president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. Edhie is running for a seat in the national parliament for his father’s Demokrat Party, in East Java.
An opposing candidate, M Naziri SHI (from Partai Gerindra) as well as an ‘activist’ Bambang Krisminarso SH MHum had accused Edhie’s campaign staffer of distributing envelopes containing 10,000 rupiah and a name card or photo of Edhie at Ponorogo on 3rd April, to potential voters.
Chip off the old block.
Naziri and Krisminarso later reported the matter to the Elections Supervisory Committee, Panwaslu, and the matter was reported on by the Globe, this report being translated and re-published on Okezone.com and in Harian Bangsa.
Reactions
The presidential palace vigorously denied the possibility that Edhie was involved in any sort of money politics or vote buying, and the editor of Jakarta Globe newspaper is rumoured to have been summoned to a meeting with a government official.
Naziri and Krisminarso have since been charged with libel against Edy Baskoro Yudhoyono. East Java police chief Anton Bachrul Alam says he is absolutely sure that the allegations against the president’s son, or his campaign team, are false.
The news reports were false, they didn’t check their facts.
Meanwhile suspect Naziri says
I did not defame Edy Baskoro Yudhoyono, because money politics did really occur in the village of Blembem, Jambon district, Ponorogo regency.
The two men are being represented by lawyers from the Muslim Defence Team/Tim Pembela Muslim (TPM).
Anton is on the job.
The original article on JakartaGlobe.com has since been deleted (screenshot) and it appears the editors of both the Globe and Okezone have issued apologies for publishing details of the affair. The police have decided not to prosecute their editors, although Brigjen Alam did initially mention them as suspects. antara
Parliament chairman Agung Laksono said although he didn’t know the precise details of the case he was sure that the press had, in general, nothing to fear in reporting on corruption issues during the election period. antara
11 Comments on “(Alleged) Money Politics Scandal”
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Hi Ross, I guess one issue here is why the Chief of Police of East Java got involved so quickly and decisively – there have been around 200 electoral violation reports in the province, if the police paid any attention to them it would be to investigate the person who had been accused of wrong-doing, ie rorting/cheating, but in this case they arrested the people who had made the complaint, so it seems they got things the wrong way around, because…it’s the president’s son.
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Anon says:
The Globe never published an apology like Okezone. It just removed the ‘offending’ material. Also, the reporter at the Globe and some senior editors were questioned by police, and for 24 hours, were ‘suspects’ in the ‘case’ apparently. Not intimidation at all, ha!
The Globe didn’t have anything to apologize for…
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Janma says:
meanwhile, this money politics is probably helping stave off recession in Indonesia, with all that wealth being re-distributed from rich to poor….
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dragonwall says:
If his son had not done that, the chance of his father winning the presidential election are much greater, but with this kind of things going on….they are screwed.
A brother in law accused of corruption and now this. How could SBY have such an idiotic son..
But anyway you are right, inthe wealth redistributed from rich to poor.. If he had distributed the money instead of putting them in the envelope, he could have save the trouble of being accuse of vote buying.
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Ross says:
What are we to make of the demand by a loser (surely in EVERY sense!) in Maluku – Metro TV and ANTV on Sunday – that the recipents of a free tv he donated as part of his election campaign effort now have to hand it back -in fact, ‘handing back’ is not quite accurate; tv showed it being taken away by some goons he sent. Unfortunately, this geezer’s party was not identified, but one hopes they’ll sack him.
Then over the long weekend we had more reports of some carpets given and taken back, a water-supply being denied to neighbours who didn’t vote as they ‘should,’ and even some poor folks being evicted for ballot ill-judgement!
It’s bad enough that venal ratbags expect to get away with blatant bribery,but worse when they are wisely rejected (Gonzo of the above tv set got a princely 3 votes) then reclaim their largesse.
Poor voters can’t win, can they; successful candidates imagine they now have a license to enjoy sumptuous salaries, free trips overseas for not only themselves but their parasitic spouses, and other wondrous opportunities for ripping off those they purport to represent, while unsuccessful candidates at once put on the squeeze to get back what they laid out on the voters!
I notice in a recent JP article (on the anti-democratic call for ‘affirmative action’ to boost the numbers of winning female candidates) one lady remarked casually that women as well as men in parliamentary positions were expected to dish out cash to citizens. It is this brazen acceptance of the culture of corruption that is the real root of the problem.
Such handouts should simply be made a criminal offence and anybody proven to engage in such practices should be summarily expelled from elected office.
Certainly, there would be a huge number of sudden vacancies, but sooner or later, decent people would get elected by default. Of course, before that happens, we need honest judges and honest cops. Squaring a circle is hard work. -
Rambutan says:
Do you seriously think SBY’s son would be so stupid to hand out money? With his name card attached? This is obviously a blatant attempt at ‘black campaigning’. No surprise it comes from Gerindra. The party is full of former BIN people. They are quite experienced launching disinformation campaigns and discrediting individuals.
Having said that, typical for the police to overreact if a case involves a relative of an influential figure. A case of anticipatory obedience… -
Do you seriously think SBY’s son would be so stupid to hand out money? With his name card attached?
Probably not Rambutan, his campaign worker might be though, it was him accused of it, the Globe headline was a bit naughty, “Sby’s son accused of vote-buying”, and the first few paragraphs.
About Gerindra, fair enough..
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No surprises of course but Edhie, even though he was third on the ticket, did awfully well, here are the numbers of votes for the Demokrat list.
1 Drs. RAMADHAN POHAN, MIS 7.395
2 RUSMINIATI, SH 4.314
3 EDHIE BASKORO YUDHOYONO.M.SC 50.061
4 H. ANWAR YUNUS,SH 2.052
5 DRS. H.MOCHAMAD UTOMO ABDUL KARIM TAYIB, SH 650
6 SHANTI INDAH LESTARI,SH.,M.KN 455
7 JERRY BUTAR-BUTAR 247
8 NUNING DARMADI, SS 207
9 HARJOTO, SE 444
10 H.ZULKARNAIN ZA,SH,MM,MBA 319 -
diego says:
and that pohan guy? sounds familiar that apellido….
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I guess this is him – http://www.facebook.com/people/Ramadhan-Pohan/1125233534
He’s a fan of Jakarta Globe, lol, he must be a bit annoyed about being first on the ticket but being thrashed by a kid…
Comment on “(Alleged) Money Politics Scandal”.
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Truth will out, perhaps, though not often here.
Interestingly, why is this lad singled out for calumny for handing out ten k ? If he did. It is widely reported that the drongos who crowded into rallies this month got up to Rp. 50,000 a head, or is that different?
And during the results programme on tv there was a PAN lady candidate in East Java, who’d handed out restaurant discount cards to encourage voters; she was pictured smiling unashamedly, oblivious to any rank accusations of ‘money politics.’
Meanwhile, the ghastly lawyers who rush to stick up for terrorists, the TPM, are taking up the cause of these guys who accused SBY Junior. Why? They don’t normally defend Muslims unless they are fellow-fanatics.
lt’s all a bit odd, and one wonders why the Jakarta Globe is in hot water for merely reporting the accusations, assuming it reported them as accusations and not fact.(I only get to see the Globe if a particular tukang haps upon me while waiting for the bus in West Jakarta – though he pleasingly sells it to me for Rp.5000)