Bawaslu Regret KPUD Ranks Who Do Not Fulfill The Summons For The Election Dispute Session

JAKARTA - The Election Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu) received 71 applications for registration disputes for regional head candidates in the 2020 simultaneous regional elections. From this request, Bawaslu notes that there are some things.

This application is submitted by prospective pilkada participants. They filed a candidate's dissatisfaction with the nomination process for registration and factual administrative verification conducted by the KPU.

Bawaslu member Rahmat Bagja regretted the attitude of a number of regional KPU ranks who did not meet the conditions for calling for a candidate pair registration dispute hearing.

Even so, Bagja was reluctant to reveal which regency / city KPU was not cooperative in handling the violation.

"What we regret is that in one district / city there is a summons from Bawaslu, but the commissioner only once or twice came to the KPU. Then, continued by lawyers," said Bagja in a virtual press conference, Friday, September 18.

There were also several Kabupatem / city KPU witnesses who refused to attend to provide information, either the district election committee or the polling committee.

"This is our common concern in organizing the dispute because the one being disputed is the KPU SK, which in fact the KPU can bring in witnesses who can strengthen the SK," said Bagja.

Bagja explained that the dispute petition was submitted by prospective pairs of candidates to the provincial and regency / city Bawaslu that held the elections this year.

"From 71 requests for disputes that have been submitted, Bawaslu has resolved 63 cases. The requests were resolved by 1 Provincial Bawaslu, 52 District Bawaslu and 10 City Bawaslu," said Bagja.

According to Bagja, the request for dispute occurred during the registration process for individual candidate pairs which was divided into three stages.

The three stages start from submitting support files and distribution or administrative verification, verification of repair administration, and factual verification of repairs.

"Bawaslu has also received requests for disputes in the stage of registering candidates through political parties," he said.

In formal dispute resolution carried out by Bawaslu during the elections, the decisions are corrective. The decision will cancel or revoke, change or correct when it is proven that irregularities have occurred.

This is in accordance with their authority based on Law Number 10 of 2016 concerning Second Amendment to Law Number 1 of 2015 concerning Stipulation of Government Regulations in Lieu of Law Number 1 of 2014 concerning the Election of Governors, Regents and Mayors into Law.

The Regional Head Election or Pilkada 2020 will be special compared to other democratic parties. The 2020 Pilkada will go down in history because this democratic party was held when Indonesia was still in an emergency period for the spread of COVID-19.

To provide legal certainty regarding the implementation of health protocols in the implementation of the 2020 Pilkada, the government has issued General Election Commission (KPU) Regulation Number 6 of 2020 or PKPU No. 6/2020. The regulation contains rules for implementing health protocols at each stage of the Pilkada.

The KPU has also prepared a simulation of the voting process to counting votes at polling stations by implementing the COVID-19 prevention health protocol that involves the COVID-19 Handling Task Force. In its application, the KPU must prioritize the use of digital media in socialization or campaigns. In addition, the KPU also limits face-to-face socialization participants and limits the number of masses who accompany the registration process for candidate pilkada participants to the KPU.

Apart from the organizers, political parties and prospective candidates who will attend the registration are also required to apply health protocols. One of its applications is the submission of registration documents for candidate pairs of Pilkada candidates as regulated by Article 49 Paragraph (1) PKPU 6/2020.

The regulation stipulates that the documents submitted must be wrapped in a material that is resistant to liquid substances. Then before being accepted by the officer, the document was sprayed first with a disinfectant liquid.

Under the regulation, document receiving officers are required to wear personal protective equipment in the form of masks and disposable gloves. Other rules: limit the number of people in the room; crowd-making is prohibited; submission of documents must be spaced and queued; all parties brought their respective stationery; avoiding physical contact; provision of adequate sanitation facilities; and the room where the activities are kept clean.

Apart from the registration process, the campaign and voting will also be different from normal conditions. In the campaign process, the health protocol rules are listed in Articles 57-64.

What will feel the most different in the 2020 Pilkada is that candidate pairs must limit themselves to meeting the general public as much as possible. The regulation also regulates public discussions that must be held in broadcasting studios. Supporters are not allowed to attend these events.

To realize this regulation, the government has added a budget for the 2020 Pilkada. Based on data from the Ministry of Home Affairs (Kemendagri) at the end of last August, the total regional election budget was Rp. 15.22 trillion. Meanwhile, the amount disbursed by the regional government was Rp. 12.01 trillion or 92.05 percent. So there is still 7.95 percent or Rp1.21 trillion that has not been disbursed.

This amount includes an additional budget as a cost to anticipate the spread of COVID-19. For the General Election Commission (KPU), the additional budget is IDR 4.7 trillion, Bawaslu IDR 478 billion, and the Honorary Board of Election Organizers (DKPP) IDR 39 billion, supported by the State Revenue and Expenditure Budget (APBN).