Camelia Pasandaran – A drawn-out battle between the Election Supervisory Board and the General Election Commission on Tuesday finally entered another phase as the board filed a request for a judicial review with the Constitutional Court.
The Election Supervisory Board (Bawaslu) is seeking a review of several articles of the election laws concerning the selection of members of regional Election Supervisory Committees (Panwas) and the formation of Honorary Councils.
Selection is a sensitive matter because Panwas supervises polls in the regions. By law, the General Election Commission (KPU) selects Panwas members.
"The recruitment process of Panwas members should be independent," Bambang Widjojanto, a lawyer for Bawaslu, told the Jakarta Globe. "However, under the 2007 law on election organizers, the selection is carried out by the General Election Commission."
Bawaslu and the KPU have been in conflict since last year over selection. While the KPU has selected members in some regions, Bawaslu plans to extend the terms of members involved in July's presidential elections.
The vice president and the home affairs minister have tried to mediate the dispute to no avail. Discussions in the cabinet also failed to provide a settlement.
The KPU sought an edict from the Supreme Court asserting its authority, but the court ruled that selection should be in the hands of regional councils, throwing more confusion into the case.
The inability to come to a settlement has led to dueling Panwas bodies being set up in some regions.
Bawaslu argues that the principle of the KPU electing the Panwas members goes against the principle of elections to promote fairness and truthfulness. It has demanded that the Constitutional Court issue a provisional ruling to validate the extension of the terms of the 2009 Panwas.
Bawaslu also seeks to challenge the KPU on the establishment of Honorary Councils to judge cases of election law violations by the KPU.
Bawaslu wants 10 of those councils to address cases at the national and regional levels. Only four have thus far been established.
Bawaslu also wants the composition of the councils to be changed, arguing that three of the five members of each council are from the KPU, and are therefore biased in their duty. "We want fewer KPU members than those from outside the KPU," Bambang said.
Tuesday's hearing was only to hear the applicant's demand. The court ordered Bawaslu to clarify its arguments and resubmit them soon.
Refly Harun, a constitutional expert and member of the Center for Electoral Reform, said the two institutions should have settled the problem outside of court.
"They should have asked the House to revise the law to find a solution to the problem," he said. Refly said the Constitutional Court's ruling may result in the nation's election system being altered.