Bawaslu Wanti-wanti Village Head Not To Become A Campaign Tool For The 2024 Election, There Is A Threat Of 1 Year In Prison

JAMBI - The Election Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu) reminded all villages not to be involved in campaigning during the 2024 General Election.

"I remind my village heads not to be involved as campaigners during the 2024 election, because there is a criminal element," said Bawaslu member Totok Hariyono while attending the National Working Meeting of the Association of Indonesian Village Governments (APDESI) in Jambi as reported by ANTARA, Wednesday, July 26.

The prohibition, he said, was stated in Article 280 paragraphs 2 and 3 of Law Number 7 of 2017 which explained that the implementation of the campaign team in election campaign activities was prohibited from including village heads, village officials and village community members.

If there are village heads who are actively involved as campaign implementers in the election, criminal acts are imposed in accordance with Article 494 of Law Number 7 of 2017.

Village heads, village officials and members of village deliberative bodies who violate as referred to in Article 280 paragraph 3 shall be punished with imprisonment for a maximum of one year and a maximum fine of IDR 12 million.

Therefore, Bawaslu hopes that village heads and all village officials can maintain neutrality during the 2024 election campaign.

In addition, Bawaslu assessed that the success of democracy in the village could not be separated from the role of APDESI as the spearhead of village leaders.

The APDESI figure is needed in creating elections that are safe, comfortable and democratic.

Without APDESI, he said, holding safe elections in villages is not easy because the village head is also the spearhead of holding safe elections.