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View all search resultsDelays in forming selection panel for election body draw scrutiny
The government missed the deadline to form a committee that will vet new election organizers and supervisors, raising concerns over compliance with the law and the transparency of the selection process.
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A woman casts her vote in the simultaneous regional elections on Nov. 27, 2024, at a booth in a polling station in Jakarta. Voters in 37 provinces and more than 500 cities and regencies picked regional leaders in the country's biggest simultaneous regional election. (AFP/Bay Ismoyo)
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he government has yet to announce the membership of a panel that will vet new election organizers and supervisors, despite the deadline for its formation having passed more than a week ago, raising concerns over compliance with the law and the transparency of the selection process.
Under the prevailing election law, the sitting president must appoint a committee responsible for screening commissioner candidates for the General Elections Commission (KPU) and Elections Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu) at least six months before the terms of the current commissioners expire. This effectively makes Oct. 12 the deadline for the formation of the selection committee.
The KPU and Bawaslu are in charge of organizing and overseeing Indonesia’s elections, which are among the world’s largest and most complex, with the responsibility to ensure electoral rules are upheld and the process is fair and transparent.
Lawmaker Mardani Ali Sera from the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), a member of the ruling coalition, claimed last week that President Prabowo Subianto had signed a decree establishing the panel, although the government had yet to announce its members publicly.
Mardani said he has not received information about who had been appointed to the committee but urged the government to appoint qualified individuals with strong integrity to ensure a fair and independent selection process.
“The selection committee must have integrity and competence,” he said, warning that the quality of the panel would be crucial to ensuring strong election institutions amid concerns over Indonesia’s democratic performance.
The government had yet to confirm Mardani’s claim. State Secretary Prasetyo Hadi and his deputy Juri Ardiantoro did not respond to requests for comment.
