6-2-2024 (JAKARTA) The chairman of Indonesia’s General Elections Commission (KPU), Hasyim Asy’ari, has been issued a “final stern warning” by the Election Organisation Ethics Council (DKPP) for committing ethics violations related to the registration of vice presidential candidates. The DKPP, chaired by Heddy Lugito, found that Hasyim Asy’ari and all six other commissioners had violated ethics regulations.
The violation in question relates to the KPU’s decision to allow Gibran Rakabuming Raka, the son of incumbent President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, to register as the vice presidential candidate for current defense minister Prabowo Subianto, before adjusting the minimum age requirement. According to Indonesia’s 2017 General Elections Law Reform, a candidate must be at least 40 years old to register for either the president or vice president position. However, Gibran, who is 36 years old, was permitted to register as a vice presidential candidate based on a ruling by Indonesia’s constitutional court. The court stated that candidates below the age of 40 may qualify if they have held elected regional office. Gibran had previously been elected as the mayor of Surakarta.
The constitutional court’s ruling was controversial at the time, as the head of the court was Gibran’s uncle, who was subsequently demoted due to the decision. The DKPP has now reprimanded the KPU for allowing the registration despite the age requirement violation.
Furthermore, the KPU violated existing regulations by simply informing political parties about the changes instead of immediately holding a meeting with the government and relevant lawmakers. The DKPP emphasized that the KPU should have consulted with lawmakers before making any adjustments. However, the KPU only requested a meeting with lawmakers one week after changing its internal regulations to align with the constitutional court’s ruling.
As a result of these ethics violations, Hasyim Asy’ari, the head of the KPU, has received a “final stern warning.” This warning is significant because Hasyim has already been issued two previous stern warnings regarding ethics violations in 2023. In response to the issue, Hasyim stated on February 5 that he had no comment and would continue working. The other six commissioners have also been issued stern warnings.
Experts in constitutional law have commented on the situation, stating that ordinarily, these three ethics violations would be grounds for dismissing the KPU chairman. However, given the proximity to the upcoming presidential election, it is likely that the DKPP decided not to take this action. Dismissing Hasyim could have a negative political impact and potentially undermine the integrity of the election, which is scheduled to take place in just over a week.
Prabowo’s and Gibran’s national campaign team have anticipated that this issue will be “weaponized” by their opponents. They fear that those afraid of losing will use it repeatedly to tarnish their campaign. However, the team maintains that the DKPP decision only concerns technical issues and does not have a substantial impact on the Prabowo-Gibran campaign. Additionally, they pointed out that the legislature members were on recess during the registration period for presidential and vice presidential candidates, making it impossible to arrange a meeting in time. The DKPP did not invalidate the Prabowo-Gibran registration and stated that the KPU had fulfilled its constitutional duties according to their decision.
