Yogyakarta Bawaslu Handling Cases Of Legislative Candidates Allegedly Campaigning In Places Of Worship

ILLUSTRATION BETWEEN

YOGYAKARTA - The Election Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu) of Yogyakarta City is investigating allegations of election violations by one of the legislative candidates suspected of campaigning at places of worship in Wirobrajan District, Yogyakarta City, Yogyakarta Special Region.

"The allegation is that there is a campaign (candidate) in places of worship which is located as one with educational places," said a member of the Yogyakarta City Bawaslu, the manly son of the Nation, as reported by ANTARA, Friday, February 2.

According to Male, the case allegedly took place in a place of worship, which is located at the same location as the Kindergarten (TK) in Wirobrajan District on January 12, 2024.

The findings of the case, he said, stemmed from public information which was then followed up by the District Supervisory Committee (panwascam) by checking directly at the location.

"Indeed, there was an event at that location. The event was actually a PKK event which was attended by one of the legislative candidates. Well, for that, it became the finding of alleged campaign violations in places of worship," said the Coordinator of the Yogyakarta City Bawaslu Dispute and Violation Handling Division.

According to Male, the alleged violation has been included in the study or discussion process at the Integrated Law Enforcement Center (Sentra Gakkumdu) consisting of the Yogyakarta City Bawaslu, the prosecutor's office, and the police.

"It's already in the discussion process, the first one (ensures) whether there is a campaign. What is called a campaign must be clear, then is it really a place of worship," he explained.

The Yogyakarta City Bawaslu also immediately clarified by examining witnesses, the management where the alleged campaign violation took place, and asking for an explanation from the religious affairs office (KUA) regarding the status of the place used.

"If it is a place of worship, then is there a document stating it as a place of worship, whether it is registered with the Ministry of Religion. Because we cannot arbitrarily determine whether it is a place of worship or not unless there is supporting evidence," he said.

Male said that in the rules in Article 280 paragraph (1) letter h of Law (UU) Number 7 of 2017 concerning General Elections, it was stated that the implementers, participants, and election campaign teams were prohibited from using government facilities, places of worship, and educational places.

Article 521 of Law Number 7 of 2017 concerning Elections also regulates sanctions for violations of the rule, namely imprisonment for a maximum of two years and a maximum fine of IDR 24 million.

"We are still in the process at the Gakkumdu Center, possibly to this day. We will examine it in depth from the results of the investigation whether it fulfills the elements (of election convicts) or not," he said.

Male asked all participants of the 2024 General Election in the city of Yogyakarta to comply with regulations that had actually been socialized previously, including understanding the role of Bawaslu as a regulatory enforcer.

"We are not looking for problems but instead ensuring that all procedures in the electoral system run according to statutory provisions," said Pribat.