Puskapol UI: Discourse on Revision of the Electoral Law Needs Caution

The discourse on electoral revision put forward by the Chairman of Commission II of the DPR needs to be anticipated if there are pragmatic elite interests.

KOMPAS/HENDRA A SETYAWAN

A member of the General Elections Commission (KPU), Parsadaan Harahap (center), along with the Chairman of the West Java KPU, Ummi Wahyuni (second from the right), and the Chairman of the Depok City KPU, Willi Sumarlin (right), during the launch of the establishment of the District Election Committee (PPK) for the 2024 Regional Head Elections at the Depok City KPU office, West Java, on Tuesday (23/4/2024).

JAKARTA, KOMPAS - Executive Director of the Center for Political Studies at the University of Indonesia (Puskapol UI), Hurriyah, considers the discourse of political system improvement through the revision of several laws should be approached with caution by the public. She is concerned that the political system improvement may have hidden interests to secure the Regional Head Election in November 2024.

"If I look at a larger context, the pattern of hijacking regulations and democracy in Indonesia is carried out in three ways, namely legal formal or procedural by creating rules of the game that benefit elites, circumventing existing methods, or "changing the rules of the game for the pragmatic interests of the elite," said Hurriyah when contacted, Saturday (27/4/2024).

He gave an example, during the discussion of Law Number 7 of 2017 concerning Elections, the makers of the Law, namely the government and DPR, insisted on implementing parliamentary threshold (parliamentary threshold/PT). However, when they were disadvantaged by this regulation, they then sued the Constitutional Court. The MK granted the abolition of the PT for the next five-year election in 2029.

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"Undemocratic discourse is often thrown by our politicians. When they see problems in the elections, the solutions offered do not address the root of the problem, instead the emerging issues are used as justification or validation to push their own agendas," he explained.

TANGKAPAN LAYAR KOMPAS TV

Deputy Executive Director of the Center for Political Studies at the University of Indonesia (Puskapol UI) Hurriyah spoke on the Satu Meja The Forum program broadcasted by Kompas TV on Wednesday night (11/5/2022).

Hurriyah's opinion responds to the statement of Chairman of Commission II of the House of Representatives, Ahmad Doli Kurnia Tandjung, who visited Minister of State Secretary Pratikno at the State Secretariat office in Jakarta on Thursday (25/4/2024). The Golkar Party politician said that during the conversation, they discussed the improvement of the political system through the revision of several laws. Ideally, this improvement should be carried out in the first few months of the new government's term (Kompas.id, 25/4/2024).

Compliance with the Law

According to Hurriyah, if the legislators really want to improve existing regulations, when holding simultaneous regional elections in 2024, what must be corrected is compliance with the regulations of Law Number 10 of 2016 concerning Regional Elections. Note that during the 2024 Presidential Election, the main violator of regulations was the state. This happened because there was a conflict of interest at play and was left unchecked by the authorities taking action.

Undemocratic discourses are often expressed by our politicians.

"In the context of regional elections, the policy of appointing acting regional heads was strongly criticized by the public because it was vulnerable to being used for political interests. "In the previous regional elections, the threat was incumbent officials, now there are officials appointed directly by the central government so there are concerns that they will not be neutral and become political proxies at the national level," he said.

If previously the local election was a contest for the circulation of local or regional elite level, now the local elite also have to compete with the extended hand of the central government. The policy from the Ministry of Home Affairs, it is judged, brings national political influence to the regional level. If the pattern of "cawe-cawe" or political intervention through the mobilization of state apparatus like during the previous presidential elections, he is concerned that the local election will still create an unequal contest for the candidates.

"The issue of 'gentong babi' political tactics is still vulnerable to being played again during regional elections. This is because the regulations, especially those containing sanctions for violations of civil servant neutrality, are still unclear. Regional leaders, who are supposed to be responsible for upholding commitment, usually lack firmness in enforcing the neutrality of civil servants who violate it," he said.

KOMPAS/BAHANA PATRIA GUPTA

Professor of Political Science, Airlangga University, Ramlan Surbakti

Bawaslu performance

Professor of Political Science at Airlangga University, Ramlan Surbakti, added that the issue he highlighted during the recent presidential election was the manipulation of the legal requirements for vice presidential candidacy and voter manipulation through power intervention. Therefore, the performance of the Election Supervisory Board (Bawaslu) needs to be improved. Bawaslu should not have to issue an Election Vulnerability Index, which is the responsibility of the security apparatus, namely the police. Ideally, Bawaslu can focus more on the index of election violations or electoral malpractice.

"There are three typologies of election manipulation, namely law manipulation, manipulation of election participant or political party requirements in the General Election Commission (KPU), and manipulation of voter's choice. Manipulation of voter's choice makes voters unable to vote according to their conscience and thinking because they are given money, social assistance, and even threatened by authorities," he explained.

With that issue, according to Ramlan, the performance of Bawaslu (Election Supervisory Body) can be more focused on preventing and enforcing various forms of political manipulation. If the performance of Bawaslu is optimal, the Constitutional Court does not need to become a trash can for disputes over the results of regional elections. In regional elections, the Constitutional Court has the potential to become more of a "calculator court" because there is a requirement for a difference in vote acquisition for candidates who want to challenge the election results.

Bawaslu could ideally focus more on indexes of election violations or electoral malpractice.

"The Constitutional Court (MK) should also focus more on what kind of election process produces such outcomes. The upcoming regional elections in November are not just about the election day itself, but a long process where there should be no manipulation of the law and voter choices," he explained.

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Manipulation of voter choices, according to the Chairman of the KPU for the 2004-2007 period, is like money politics, social assistance and intimidation by the authorities. With this manipulation, voters are unable to cast their vote in the voting booth in a pure manner.

"Dissenting opinion or different opinions from three constitutional judges, namely Saldi Isra, Enny Nurbaningsih, and Arief Hidayat, regarding the manipulation of voter choices needs to be paid attention to in the 2024 Pilkada. Bawaslu supervision must be more active to prevent ethical violations that are like farting "Because the smell can be felt, but the shape cannot be seen, it can be identified and prosecuted," he said.