Rumah Pemilu Indonesia Election Portal
The Election Monitoring Body (Bawaslu) has broader authority for enforcing regulations in the upcoming Concurrent Elections of 2019. The broad authority is not only given to the central Bawaslu, but also to all its subsidiaries in regencies/municipalities.
Bawaslu at regency/municipality level now have the authority to punish any electoral violation through their Integrated Law Enforcement Center (Gakkumdu), handling administrative violation, and resolving electoral dispute. The resolution made by Bawaslu will not be considered as mere recommendation, but as an authoritative resolution that must be obeyed by the Elections Commission (KPU).
Speaking on the matter, a researcher from the Association for Elections and Democracy (Perludem), Fadli Ramadhanil, says that government’s decision to give broader authority to Bawaslu may pose some danger. This is because Bawaslu’s subsidiaries in regencies/municipalities do not yet possess the proper supporting system that may facilitate their performance in monitoring the elections, such as secretariat offices. Bawaslu subsidiaries are also prone to external pressure because electoral conflicts are mostly occurring in regency/municipality level.
“Bawaslu’s subsidiaries in regencies/municipalities also do not have enough human resources to execute such broad authority,” Fadly adds.
