Ombudsman: Integrity And Independence Of The ASN Crown, Don't Risk It For Political Interests

The atmosphere of the speech entitled "ASN Neutrality Supervision Synergy (Via ANTARA)

JAKARTA - Ombudsman member Robert Na Endi Jaweng encourages all state civil servants (ASN) to maintain integrity and independence in the 2024 Simultaneous General Election and Regional Head Elections.

"Integrity and independence are the crowns of ASN. Don't risk it just because of political interests. As an ASN, make public service your main orientation," said Robert when he was a resource person in the speech "Synergy for Supervision of ASN Neutrality in the 2024 Simultaneous General Election and Regional Head Elections", at the Ombudsman Office RI, Jakarta, Antara, Tuesday, May 31.

On the same occasion, KASN member Arie Budhiman said, based on his side's supervision from 2020 to 2021, there were five categories of ASN neutrality violations that most occurred related to elections.

A total of 30.4 percent are in the form of campaigns or socialization on social media and 22.4 percent are activities that lead to siding with one candidate or prospective candidate.

Furthermore, it was also found that 12.6 percent of ASN neutrality violations were in the form of taking photos with prospective candidates or pairs of candidates by following symbols of hand gestures or gestures indicating partisanship and 10.9 percent attending the declaration of a candidate pair or candidate for election.

"Then, 5.6 percent approached a political party related to the nomination of himself or another person as a candidate or candidate for regional head or deputy regional head," continued Arie.

In the future, Arie assessed that the challenge of supervising the neutrality of ASN in elections will indeed be more complex, especially with regard to the emergence of political bureaucratic practices.

On the other hand, according to Robert, in the context of holding elections, the Indonesian Ombudsman found a number of forms of maladministration in handling ASN neutrality complaints.

Among them, he said, were the protracted delay in handling ASN neutrality complaints, both organized by Bawaslu and the ASN Commission (KASN), and deviations from the procedures for handling the neutrality violation.

In addition, Robert also said that basically the supervision of the implementation of elections is not only related to the neutrality of ASN, but can also be extended to budget politics, allocation of social assistance, and grant funds in regional governments through the official budget.

"We often find the modalities of the incumbent regional head to win, one of which is using the strategic path of mobilizing ASN and official apparatus. Things like this must be prevented," he said.