Camelia Pasandaran, Pangkal Pinang, Bangka-Belitung – An amendment to the Regional Governance Law is expected to include provisions barring criminals and the "morally flawed" from running for public office, the government says.
The draft amendment is currently being drawn up by the Home Affairs Ministry and is expected to be submitted for deliberation to the House of Representatives next month, Minister Gamawan Fauzi announced here on Saturday.
He said requirements for candidates contesting public office needed to be more stringent, in the wake of recent cases that have seen a mayor and governor suspended after they were charged in separate corruption cases, and a district head stripped of his election victory after it emerged that he was a convicted murderer and thus ineligible to run for office.
"Given the recent phenomena, we need to evaluate the requirements one by one," the home minister said. "As proposed by the DPD [Regional Representatives Council], immoral people shouldn't be allowed to stand in elections."
He defined the immoral as those people facing criminal charges as well as those implicated in sex tapes.
"In the future, the idea is that anyone who has been charged in a criminal case will be forbidden from running for public office," he said. "However, we can't extend such a ban to candidates who have only been named suspects because they may still be cleared of any charges later on."
Under the current law, only those who have previously served time in prison are barred from running for office.
The need for an amendment was highlighted on Thursday when Agusrin Nadjamudin was suspended as Bengkulu governor. Agusrin is charged with embezzling Rp 20 billion ($2.2 million) of provincial revenues. His trial commenced last week.
In addition to Agusrin, several other regional heads, including 17 governors, have either been named suspects or charged in a variety of cases.
Gamawan is also pushing for an amendment that would make it mandatory for the deputy to the regional head to originate from the bureaucracy rather than a political party.
"If both the regional head and the deputy have party affiliations, they'll tend to fight," he said, declining to provide details about the proposed amendment.