Tenggara Strategics, Jakarta – Recent allegations of data manipulation during the factual verification of political parties aspiring to contest the 2024 legislative elections have clouded hopes of a free and fair practice of democracy. A number of civil society organizations found that cheating took place in several regions, including South Sulawesi, North Sulawesi, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), East Java, Bali, Central Kalimantan and Aceh.
The factual verification stage conducted by the General Elections Commission (KPU) determines whether or not political parties that are currently not represented in the legislature are eligible to run in the elections. To be able to nominate candidates for the 2024 election, these parties must meet the requirements set by the commission.
Political parties that initially failed but eventually passed the verification include newcomers the Gelora Party, the Nusantara Awakening Party (PKN) and the Garuda Party. Altogether 17 parties qualify for the Feb. 14, 2024 elections, most are old faces that competed in 2019. The Gelora Party, the PKN and the Labor Party will make their debut in 2024.
The allegations arose after a group of civil society organizations disclosed irregularities in the results of the factual verification in South Sulawesi. South Sulawesi Non-Government Information and Communication Form (FIK-Ornop) coordinator Samsang Syamsir said discrepancies were found between the data collected by the regency/city KPU offices and that of the KPU provincial office. The lack of transparency in the local KPU offices' Political Party Information System (SIPOL) database had also been taken advantage of.
Lawyers representing a group of regional KPU officials have also claimed their clients were intimidated by officials from the KPU central office to alter the results of the factual verifications.
The Elections Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu) has yet to find evidence of the KPU's alleged violations. However, Bawaslu confirmed three violations of the factual verifications in Mamuju, West Sulawesi; Kotabaru, South Kalimantan; and Pidie, Aceh. For one, the Gelora Party was found to have falsified the number of members in Mamuju, which initially did not meet the electoral requirements. The Mamuju KPU office was then rebuked.
In a written response to the allegations, KPU chairman Hasyim Asy'ari said the KPU had been fully transparent and accountable at every stage of the hierarchical submission of the factual verification results, from the regency/city KPU offices to the SIPOL database. He added that the results had also been distributed to political parties and Bawaslu.
Bawaslu chairman Rahmat Bagja pointed out that the agency should have received the factual verifications results from each KPU regional office, not only from the provincial office. Moreover, just like the public, Bawaslu also has limited access to the SIPOL database.
If these allegations are confirmed, it would constitute both a violation of the law and the KPU code of ethics. Calls for the KPU to conduct internal reforms are mounting as allegations of data manipulation so early on in the election process will dash any hope for the country to hold free and fair elections in 2024.
What's more
Allegations of the fraudulent practice came just a few days before the KPU was supposed to announce the political parties eligible to contest the 2024 general elections on Dec. 14. KPU commissioner Idham Holik said the poll body would hold an open plenary meeting on the date to review the results of the factual verification. Hasyim added the KPU would internally investigate the allegations as well.
It was said that the Gelora Party had its eligibility falsified during the factual verification to rival the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS). The Gelora Party was formed following a split within the PKS just before the 2019 elections. Gelora founding chairman Anis Matta was the PKS leader in 2013-2015.
Similarly, the PKN is set to rival the Democratic Party, as PKN members from central to regional levels used to join the Democrats. PKN chairman I Gede Pasek Suardika, for example, was once a key executive of the Democratic Party. The Garuda Party had been deeply involved in the judicial reviews filed against the Elections Law at the Constitutional Court.
According to Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) researcher Kurnia Ramadhana, fraudulent practices can be prevented by ensuring that each step of the electoral process is transparent and the SIPOL database is made accessible so that supervisory bodies like Bawaslu as well as the public are able to observe the process without obstructions.
What we've heard
A source confirmed that the KPU has instructed regional KPU offices to make sure the Gelora Party, the Garuda Party and PKN pass the factual verification stage at the final coordination meeting.
According to the source, these parties had not met the electoral requirements for party membership. For one, a source from the KPU said, verification officers found only 58 out of 137 samples of registered Gelora Party members in Sangihe regency, North Sulawesi. Accordingly, the Gelora Party should not have passed the factual verification, but North Sulawesi KPU members were asked to alter the results.
The KPU is said to be holding an internal investigation regarding the allegations. A KPU official said that several parties have made improvements to the SIPOL database. The source added that political parties that violated this process can be banned from contesting the elections. "Investigations are ongoing and the results will be known no later than 14 months before the voting day," the source said.