TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - By firing the chairman of the General Elections Commission, the Election Organization Ethics Council is seen as having gone too far. An ethics body should not have the power of dismissal.
MORE than just an overreaction, the move by the Election Organization Ethics Council (DKPP) in firing the chairman of the General Elections Commission (KPU) is a realization of excessive power in the hands of an ethics council.
Normally ethics councils only issue recommendations to be implemented by other bodies. For example, the Judicial Commission provides recommendations related to ethical violations by judges. Any follow up action is taken by the Supreme Court. The DKPP is the only ethics council in Indonesia that has the authority to dismiss people.
It is debatable whether the actions of KPU Chairman Arief Budiman were unethical. In April 2020, he accompanied his colleague, non-active KPU member Evi Novida Ginting Manik, to file a lawsuit at the Jakarta State Administrative Court. The ethics council took the view that this was at odds with the DKPP ruling and was therefore an abuse of power.
This all began with an old dispute between the DKPP and the KPU. In 2019, the KPU declared Cok Hendri Rampon the winner of an election for the West Kalimantan Provincial Legislative Council. Believing the KPU's decision to be partial, the DKPP dismissed Evi, who at the time was deputy coordinator of the West Kalimantan KPU. Evi then filed a legal challenge over her dismissal.
The ethics council took the view that Arief had breached the code of ethics and therefore should be dismissed despite the fact that the chairman of an institution being present when one of its members is taking legal action is not something out of the ordinary. For example, the leadership of the Corruption Eradication Commission was present when Novel Baswedan, one of its investigators, was questioned by police. Arief was not there to put pressure on the court, but to provide moral support. As a citizen, Evi has the right to file such a lawsuit and the ethics council should respect the legal process.
Rulings by the ethics council could even change decisions made by the KPU or the Election Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu), meaning that they could affect the results of elections. This authority has led to suspicions that the DKPP has been used by political parties to defend their short-term interests. Politicians could even use the DKPP as a tool to attack political opponents.
Law No. 7/2017 on general elections gives this excessive authority to the ethics council. It is time this law is revised and the position of the DKPP be restored to that of an ethics council without the authority to punish.
The dignity of the DKPP will not be offended if it returns to its original function. As an ethics council, the DKPP can carry out wide-ranging investigations into potential ethical violations by the leadership of the KPU and Bawaslu. This ethical oversight must continue to ensure that bodies responsible for elections can be trusted and that the people, including those who contest them, do not doubt the results of elections. The current situation will only make the protracted conflict between the KPU and DKPP continues and manipulated by political groups disputing election result.
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