Camelia Pasandaran

KPU Commissioners Increasing Pressure to Step Down

Ciawi, West Java. Two members of the embattled General Elections Commission did not allow questions about their alleged incompetence to get in the way of a little rest and relaxation during an overnight retreat with journalists on Thursday.

With the results of both the legislative and presidential elections now final, there has been a growing chorus of calls to fire all seven commissioners on the elections commission, also known as the KPU, for a series of high-profile mistakes.

Those calls intensified on Thursday, with election analysts describing the commissioners as unprofessional, incompetent and biased.

Jeirry Sumampow, chairman of the Indonesian Voters Committee (Tepi), and Jojo Rohi of the Independent Election Monitoring Committee (Kipp) said that the commissioners should be laid off before the gubernatorial elections start next year.

In perhaps the most stinging criticism, Constitutional Court Chief Mahfud MD — in a rejection of legal challenges tied to the presidential election results — said that only competent officials should be allowed to run the KPU in the future. Mahfud even hinted that commissioners could be charged with criminal offenses, if necessary.

On Thursday, Jojo proposed performance audits for all commissioners.

“The audit results would be used as a recommendation to fire them and replace them with more competent members,” Jojo said.

“That would be the most concrete solution,” he added.

Wirdianingsih, a member of the Elections Supervisory Board (Bawaslu) — a body that has also become the target of heavy criticism — said the only way to terminate KPU members would be through the establishment of an honorary council. Bawaslu is currently reviving its efforts to establish such a body.

But Jojo said that a council would not work, because the KPU itself would have to form it, with three of the five council members to be taken from the KPU.

KPU member Endang Sulastri, answering questions before getting into a cable car, acknowledged that the KPU had made some mistakes.

“We probably haven’t done our work optimally,” she said.

“However, people should remember that the Election Law was issued too close to the actual election. The presidential and legislative election laws affected our work performance because there were problems in the legislation. We work according to the procedures set out in the law.”

Your View

See Result