Bawaslu Cautious Upon Handling Sandiaga`s Alleged Political Dowry

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The elections supervisory agency (Bawaslu) is in the midst of studying its entire election organizing rules before investigating Jakarta Deputy Governor Sandiaga Uno upon an alleged political dowry for his vice presidential candidacy.

“We must be extra cautious. We are currently focusing our attention on every rule overseeing matters related to political dowry. [His] candidacy can potentially be overruled via proof of trial, which is why we want to be sure about the rules” said Rahmat Badja, a Bawaslu member Tempo reached on Monday, August 13.

The issue regarding Sandiaga’s alleged political dowry emerged after Democratic Party Secretary General Andi Arief tweeted on August 8, suggesting that Sandiaga managed to run as Prabowo Subianto’s vice presidential candidate after he gave Rp500 billion each to the National Mandate Party (PAN) and the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS).

Sandiaga Uno allegedly gave the dowry as a way to win the support of PAN and PKS, which are Prabowo’s main political backers that have initially presented their own vice presidential candidate. Both PAN and PKS had already rejected Democratic Party’s candidate, Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono.

Furthermore, Sandiaga Uno repeatedly denied the allegations of buying PAN and PKS’ support and claims that he would only spend the money if it’s purely to fund the party’s presidential election campaigns.

BUDIARTI PUTRI