Mohammad Firman Ahili, the Coordinator of the People’s Election Monitoring Network (Jaringan Pemantau Pemilu Rakyat – JPPR) in Gorontalo, has uncovered a potential affiliation between an individual identified as ‘EK’ a member of the Election Supervisory Board (Bawaslu) in Gorontalo City and a political party.
Firman’s discovery is based on the organizational documents of the Justice and Unity Party (PKP) in Gorontalo.
“This can be seen in the personnel structure documents of the Justice and Unity Party of Gorontalo. The name ‘EK’ is listed as the party’s secretary,” Firman stated on Thursday, August 24, 2023.
Firman pointed out that EK is registered as a PKP official for the 2022-2026 term. Consequently, EK should not be eligible to be a member of Bawaslu.
No political party affiliations allowed
Firman raised his objection pursuant to Article 117, point (i), of the Election Law, which explicitly stipulates that a Bawaslu membership must resigning from political party membership for at least five years before applying as a candidate.
Therefore, even though EK has resigned, Firman argued that EK still does not meet the criteria outlined in Article 117, point (i).
Firman believes that EK’s case exemplifies the shortcomings in the selection process of regional Bawaslu members, which concluded in August.
He suspects that there might be other selected regional Bawaslu members who do not meet the criteria. “There could potentially be many similar cases in other regions,” Firman expressed.
Armed group sympathizer
In another instance, an initial of GT, a member of Bawaslu in Central Papua, is suspected of sympathizing with an armed criminal group in Papua. Rahmat Bagja explained that the Bawaslu selection process, especially in Papua, has been rigorous. The selection committee even tested participants on their national awareness to demonstrate their allegiance to Pancasila and the Constitution.
He stated that Bawaslu requires intelligence data from the police or the State Intelligence Agency (BIN) to verify such allegations.
“Certainly, data from our colleagues in BIN and the local police should be detectable. If not detected, it won’t be included in our selection,” Rahmat stated.
Khoirunnisa Nur Agustyati, the Executive Director of the Association for Elections and Democracy (Perludem), emphasized that these various pieces of information should be a serious concern for the Honorary Council of Election Organizers (DKPP).
She urged DKPP to thoroughly investigate the selection process of regional Bawaslu members and those responsible for tarnishing the recruitment process.
