TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - This nation never lacks for a parody. The meeting between the General Elections Commission (KPU) and the House of Representatives (DPR) produced a worrying decision: Convicted people who have served suspended sentences can stand in the elections for regional chiefs.
The controversy over people serving suspended sentences is nothing new. DPR Commission II Deputy Chairman Lukman Edy insists that a suspended sentence cannot be categorized as a final legal category. Others take the view that people with suspended sentences 'only' committed minor offenses not corruption or crimes involving drugs or sexual assault.
This argument can be easily countered. According to the Criminal Code, those serving a suspended sentence have the same status as other convicted people. During the trial, the panel of judges proved that a crime was committed. The only difference is that the guilty people in this case serve their sentences outside prison, abiding by conditions laid down by the judges.
The DPR and the KPU agreed that those convicted of corruption, drugs or sexual offenses may not stand. On the issue of suspended sentences, however, the KPU disagreed. Initially, the commission rejected the argument that gave hope to those serving suspended sentences, saying that all candidates for regional chiefs must be free of any legal problem. Article 7 of Law No. 10/2016 on the Nominations of Governors, Regents and Mayors states that convicted people cannot stand for office. It is difficult to imagine a leader asking the people to obey the law when he or she is a known convict.
The foot-dragging continued, some of it motivated by short-term political interests. For example, Gorontalo Governor Rusli Habibie of the Golkar Party is serving a suspended sentence for slander. He was found guilty and given a two-year suspended sentence, a verdict subsequently confirmed by the Supreme Court in an appeal lodged by Budi Waseso. If the result of the meeting with the DPR is included in a KPU regulation, Rusli Habibie will be able to stand for election in 2017.
It is regrettable that after the hearing, the KPU gave in and accepted the DPR proposal. People serving suspended sentences will be allowed to run in regional elections. Hadar Nafis Gumay, a KPU commissioner, said that the commission had to abide by Article 9 of Law No. 10/2016, which states that decisions reached in consultation meetings with the DPR are binding and are included in the technical guidelines for KPU regulations.
The green light for convicts to stand in regional elections is a step backwards if we are to ensure the quality of our democracy. The results of DPR hearings that improve the quality of our democracy must be adhered to, but if they are counterproductive and break the law, the KPU has the right to ignore them. As an independent body with a mandate to ensure that elections are honest and fair, the KPU should not hesitate to speak up about which decisions should be implemented and which should not.
The quality of this recent DPR hearing should be a valuable lesson to the KPU. In order to preserve the independence and dignity of elections, the commission should immediately ask for a judicial review of Article 9 of Law No. 10/2016. If this article continues to be applied at all costs, the KPU will always be at risk of becoming a hostage to the short-term interests of politicians at Senayan. (*)
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