General Election Commission (KPU) Commissioner Arief Budiman (left) and General Election Supervisory Board (Bawaslu) Chief Muhammad (right) attend at a hearing with Commission II of the House of Representatives at the House complex in Jakarta on Tuesday (21/3). The meeting discussed problems and obstacles encountered in the monitoring of regional elections.
JAKARTA, KOMPAS – The House of Representatives could violate Law No. 15/2011 on elections if it continues to delay the screenings of General Election Commission (KPU) and Election Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu) member candidates for the 2017-2022 period. Law No. 15/2011 has mandated a deadline for the implementation of the selection.
Article 15 Paragraph (1) of Law No. 15/2011 reads, “The selection process of KPU members at the House of Representatives is done within 30 working days, at the latest, from the moment the documents pertaining to the KPU candidate members are received from the President.” In Paragraph (2), it is stated, “The House selects KPU member candidates based on results of a screening.”
Meanwhile, Article 89 Paragraph (1) of Law No. 15/2011 reads, “The selection process of Bawaslu members at the House of Representatives is done within 30 working days, at the latest, from the moment the documents pertaining to the Bawaslu candidate members are received from the President.” In Paragraph (2), it is stated, “The House selects Bawaslu member candidates based on results of screening”.
President Joko Widodo’s documents and letter on the 2017-2022 KPU and Bawaslu member candidates were sent to the House on February 17, 2017, and were read out at a House plenary meeting on February 23, 2017. This means that the deadline for the House to conduct screenings for KPU and Bawaslu member candidates is April 6, 2017. “The House should understand the set deadline as they need to conduct the screenings soon,” said constitutional law observer Refly Harun when contacted in Jakarta on Tuesday (21/3).
At the moment, the House has continued to give out signals indicating that it will delay the screenings for 14 KPU member candidates and 10 Bawaslu member candidates. Its reason for this is that the deliberation on the election bill has not been completed. Also, some House Commission II members are of the opinion that the selection process by the selection committee is too discriminative.
If the deadline of April 6 passes, according to Refly, the House would violate the Constitution. This will not only serve as a bad example to the public but the legality of the selected KPU and Bawaslu members could also be potentially challenged in court because the process is legally flawed. There would be implications to the implementation of elections should an annulment by the court happen when the KPU and Bawaslu have already started preparing for the elections.
House Commission II deputy chairman Ahmad Riza Patria said the House realized time was running out for KPU and Bawaslu member candidate selection. “Soon, there will be a decision,” he promised.
Lukman Edy, another Commission II deputy chairman, added that the special committee tasked with deliberating the election bill wanted the selection of KPU and Bawaslu members to adhere to the new provisions stipulated in the bill.
