JAKARTA - Political parties participating in the election, including candidates for legislative members, then individual candidates who will contest the DPD Member Election are considered to know the latest regulations.
Likewise, Indonesian citizens who will compete for the seats of the number 1 and 2 people in the Republic of Indonesia, will also inevitably know about changes in electoral norms in the midst of the 2024 election stage.
With the enactment of the Law on Stipulation of Government Regulations in Lieu of Law Number 1 of 2022 concerning Amendments to Law Number 7 of 2017 concerning General Elections into Law (UU Perpu Pemilu) in the State Gazette of the Republic of Indonesia, everyone is considered to have known about it.
For example, the provisions for the duration of the campaign are shorter than the rules in Article 276 of Law no. 7/2017 (the Election Law), which is binding. Thus, the ignorance of candidates and pairs of candidates regarding the new rules cannot free them from sanctions.
Article 276 of the Election Law states that the election campaign will be held 3 days after the permanent candidate list (DCT) for members of the DPR, DPD, Provincial DPRD, and district/city DPRD for the election of members of the DPR, DPD, and DPRD as well as pairs of candidates for the Presidential and Vice Presidential Elections (Pilpres) until the beginning of a period of calm.
In the Election Perpu Determination Law, the implementation of the campaign has changed since 25 days after the determination of DCT members of the DPR, members of the DPD, members of the provincial DPRD, and members of the district/city DPRD for the election of members of the DPR, DPD, and DPRD.
Meanwhile, the campaign period for presidential/vice-presidential candidates began 15 days after the pair of candidates or participants in the Presidential/Vice Presidential Elections began until the beginning of a period of calm.
The changes to the rules also have implications for a number of regulations from the General Election Commission (PKPU), including PKPU Number 3 of 2022 concerning the Stages and Schedules for the Implementation of General Elections in 2024.
It was stated in the PKPU that during the election campaign period on November 28, 2023 to February 10, 2024, there were periods of calm from 11 to 13 February 2024, then voting day on Wednesday, February 14, 2024.
The nomination of members of the Regional Representative Council (DPD) will start on December 6, 2022, until November 25, 2023, then the nomination of members of the DPR, Provincial DPRD, and district/city DPRD from April 24, 2023 to November 25, 2023.
Schedule for the nomination of the president/vice president, as stipulated in PKPU Number 3 of 2022, from 19 October 2023 to 25 November 2023.
In addition to PKPU which regulates the stages and schedules for holding the 2024 General Election, there needs to be changes, as well as PKPU No. 33 of 2018 concerning the Second Amendment to PKPU No. 23 concerning General Election Campaign.
Referring to Article 25 of the PKPU Election Campaign, since the determination of political parties as election participants, it is prohibited to carry out campaigns before the start of the campaign period.
However, political parties can conduct socialization and political education within political parties using the method of installing the flags of political parties participating in the election and their serial numbers.
Election participants for legislative members can also hold limited meetings. In this provision, political parties notify the KPU and Bawaslu no later than 1 day before the activity.
With the change in the rules of play through the Election Perpu Law, the socialization period is longer, while the campaign period is shorter.
Therefore, political parties participating in the election, individual candidates, as well as pairs of presidential/vice-presidential candidates take advantage of the socialization period as well as possible, considering the relatively short campaign period.
Restrictions on campaigns
The limitation of this campaign needs to be known to all election stakeholders. Not only election organizers, but also people who want the 2024 General Election to be based: direct, public, free, secret, honest, and fair.
The participation of the community in monitoring this election is highly anticipated. However, before reporting political party cadres or legislative candidates to the Election Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu), it should be aware of the limits of the election campaign.
The Election Law states that election campaigns are the activities of election participants or other parties appointed by election participants to convince voters by offering the vision, mission, program, and/or self-image of election participants.
Allegations of election violations in the distribution of envelopes bearing the PDI-P logo containing Rp300 thousand in one of the mosques in Sumenep, East Java, need to be a lesson for all stakeholders.
This is related to Bawaslu's conclusion that the distribution cannot be handled by alleged election violations. The election organizers considered that the incident could not be categorized as an election violation, in this case, related to campaigns for a number of reasons.
The reason presented by Bawaslu Chairman Rahmat Bagja is: First, legally, the campaign schedule has not yet started. Based on PKPU No. 3 of 2022, the campaign will start from November 28, 2023 to February 10, 2024.
Second, even though the PDI-P (PDIP) is a political party participating in the 2024 General Election, the envelope distribution event is known to be carried out on the basis of personal initiative, in this case Said Abdullah.
Third, Said Abdullah is a PDIP cadre and a member of the DPR, he is not a candidate or any candidate in the 2024 General Election.
The search results from Bawaslu through the Sumenep Regency Bawaslu related to the case from 27 March 2023 to 2 April 2023, his party found a number of facts.
Based on Antara's report, the fact is that the envelope is given through mosque administrators to worshipers in a number of mosques in three sub-districts, after Tarawih prayers on Friday, March 24. The three sub-districts are Batang-Batang, Sumenep City, and Manding District.
Second, the characteristics of the envelopes distributed are red, there are pictures of the PDI-P logo, pictures of members of the PDI-P faction of the DPR Said Abdullah and the Chairperson of the PDI-P DPC Sumenep Achmad Fauzi, and containing Rp300 thousand.
It is known that the money came from Said Abdullah which was channeled through the Said Abdullah Institute (SAI) institution. The money was then handed over to the caretaker of the Islamic boarding school or the takmir of the mosque.
When distributing the envelope, there was no invitation or appeal to choose Said Abdullah or Ahcmad Fauzi. In addition, it is also known that the distribution of money is a habit made by Said Abdullah almost every year which he considers zakat.
The Bawaslu conclusion, at least gives the public knowledge about the rules of the campaign. Therefore, the Election Perpu Law needs to be socialized immediately after being promulgated.
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