JakartaPost-Feb 5
The General Elections Commission (KPU) has its integrity put under public scrutiny once again after its leadership was found to have committed ethics violations surrounding Gibran Rakabuming Raka’s vice presidential registration. In an ethics hearing on Monday, Election Organization Ethics Council (DKPP) chair Heddy Lugito said KPU chairman Hasyim Asy’ari and all six commissioners were guilty of an ethics violation for allowing Gibran to register his candidacy before the commission had adjusted the age minimum for candidates in its internal regulation. Thirty-six-year-old Surakarta Mayor Gibran, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s son, was initially ineligible to contest the election because he was below the minimum age of 40 for registering his candidacy, as set in the KPU regulation that was in line with the 2017 General Elections Law. In a controversial ruling on Oct. 16 of last year, the Constitutional Court however removed the minimum age requirement for candidates with experience as elected officials, paving the way for Gibran to register himself as running mate to frontrunner Prabowo Subianto with the KPU around a week later. The DKPP said the KPU should have immediately held a meeting with lawmakers and the government following the court ruling, which is a prerequisite to revising the KPU regulation. Yet, the KPU instead opted to simply inform political parties about the changes introduced by the ruling before eventually requesting a meeting with lawmakers a week later and bringing the internal regulation into compliance with the court’s candidacy ruling. Read more at: https://www.thejakartapost.com/indonesia/2024/02/05/kpu-found-guilty-of-ethics-breach-in-handling-of-gibran-vp-bid.html.
