President Inaugurates Seven DKPP Members for the 2017-2022 Period

On Monday, June 12^th 2017, based on the Executive Order No.75/P of 2017, President Joko Widodo inaugurates seven members of the Election Management Bodies Honor Council (DKPP) for the 2017-2022 period at the National Palace, Jakarta. Those seven DKPP members are Hasyim Asy’ari, Ratna Dewi Pettalolo, Ida Budhiati, Harjono, Muhammad, Alfitra Salam, and Teguh Prasetyo.

The new DKPP members are ex-members of the Elections Commission (KPU), ex-members of the Election Monitoring Body (Bawaslu), and the rest are public figures handpicked by members of the Parliament and the government. Members of DKPP are responsible in maintaining the independence and integrity of EMBs’ members.

“The inauguration process has been successful. President has expressed his congratulatory statement for the selected members,” says the Head of Bureau of Press, Media, and Information of the President Secretary, Bey Machmudin, in Jakarta.

Previously, members of Parliament and the government proposed Topo Santoso and Yuswandi as candidates. However, the two names were substituted, and Parliament and government select Ida Budhiati and Harjono instead.

Many election activists initially protested against the set of candidates proposed by the Parliament and the government due to the fact that there is no female candidate on the list. They urged president to consider Ida Budhiati to be included on the list of candidates, and president heeded.

“We have a high-quality female candidate, her name is Ida Budhiati. We want the government to consider her to be included on the list of candidates,” says the Coordinator of Civil Society Alliance for Women and Politics (Ansipol), Yuda Irlang, in Jakarta (06/05).