Jakarta – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono swore in on Thursday new members of the General Elections Commission (KPU) and the Elections Monitoring Body (Bawaslu) for the 2012-2017 term.

The KPU and Bawaslu members were elected earlier this month by 53 members of the House Commission II overseeing domestic governance, regional autonomy, state institutions and agrarian affairs.

From the legislators who voted, Sigit Pamungkas and Ida Budhiati won 45 votes each, Arif Budiman (43 votes), Husni Kamil Manik (39 votes), Ferry Kurnia Rizkiyansyah and Hadar Nafis Gumay (35 votes each) and Juri Ardiantoro (34 votes) to sit on the KPU.

House members had also voted for Muhammad (45 votes), Nasrullah (36 votes), Endang Wihdatiningtyas (35 votes), Daniel Zuchron (24 votes) and Nelson Simanjuntak (24 votes) to be in charge of the election monitoring body.

Poll watchdogs have lauded the new KPU lineup saying that it could perform better than the last batch of politically connected commissioners.

The outgoing KPU members have been criticized for their chaotic management of legislative elections in 2009 and for their ties to political parties.

Former KPU member Andi Nurpati, for example, resigned as a commissioner in 2010 and joined the Democratic Party as its communications chief soon thereafter.