Basuki Rahmat N – Foreign election monitoring institute the Asian Network for Free Elections (Anfrel) has highlighted various problems in the organisation of the 2024 elections in Indonesia, including findings related to integrity and implementation in the field.
Anfrel Executive Director Rohana Hettiarachchi stated that election organisers were unable to take immediate steps to deal with election related complaints.
A number of problems impacted on the integrity of the 2024 elections, including among others the Constitutional Court (MK) ruling on the age limit for presidential candidates, which allowed President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's son Gibran Rakabuming Raka to run as a vice presidential candidate.
In addition to this there was the use of state resources that impacted on certain candidates in the elections.
"The integrity and neutrality of the KPU [General Elections Commission] was the principle key to the election. This does not just mean the KPU talking about them being neutral or independent, but this must also be felt by the public", said Hettiarachchi during a discussion in Jakarta on Sunday February 18.
He also made several suggestions for election organisers in order to strengthen these two key issues. According to Hettiarachchi, the first issue that must be addressed is the independence of election organisers.
"Members of the election organising bodies cannot be allowed to come from political parties. They should only come from a selection carried out by an independent institution, such as a constitutional institution or the like", he said.
The next suggestion is that the budget for the elections must be separate and not come from any government ministry or department.
"Financial independence is also important because if you do not have sufficient resources to build the right system, then it has to depend on the government or whoever leads [the government]. So, the issue of financial dependence is also quite important", said Hettiarachchi.
He added that the government and judicial institutions should not have an influence on any event during the elections.
According to Hettiarachchi, election organising institutions must be firm so regulations cannot be changed and there is no loopholes that can be used ahead of the implementation of the elections.
"They do indeed have judicial power, but the legal framework or laws must treat every citizen equally. So, the legal framework and its implementation must be strong", he said.
Anfrel as an election monitoring institute carried out the Anfrel International Expert Election Monitoring Mission for the 2024 Elections in Indonesia by deploying short-term observers, election analysis and a mission management team in 11 out of 38 provinces in Indonesia.
During the mission, observers monitored the important pre-election processes, the campaign period and voting on election day.
Their assessment is based on the result of interviews with stakeholders, access to information and relevant election documents, direct observation of the elections and a comprehensive and objective analysis.
Earlier, the Indonesian Survey Institute for Data Insight (ID-Insight) noted that many respondents considered that President Widodo was not neutral in the 2024 elections or cawe-cawe (meddling) in order to ensure a victory for presidential election ticket number 2, Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto and running mate Gibran Rakabuming Raka.
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "Lembaga Pemantau Asing: Pemilu di Indonesia Tidak Berintegritas dan Tak Netral".]
Source: https://www.inilah.com/lembaga-pemantau-asing-pemilu-di-indonesia-tidak-berintegritas-dan-tak-netra