Bawaslu Takes Action On 63 Cases Of Election Criminal Violations And Other Violations

Chairman of the Indonesian General Election Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu), Rahmat Bagja. (Photo: Doc. Antara)

Chairman of the Indonesian General Elections Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu), Rahmat Bagja, emphasized that election criminal violations will still be followed up seriously, even though they have special characteristics that do not follow the Criminal Procedure Code.

Rahmat revealed Bawaslu data from the initial stage of the 2024 General Election until now there are 266 cases of violations of the code of ethics for holding elections. In addition to violations of the code of ethics, there were also 140 other cases of violations of the law recorded.

"This includes administrative violations that have been proven as many as 71 cases and criminal violations as many as 63 cases. Nearly half of these criminal cases have been proven, showing the urgent need for law enforcement which is more effective in elections," he said at the Dialogue of the Merdeka Barat 9 Forum (FMB9) which raised the theme 'Initiating the Recapitulation of Election Vote Counting', Wednesday, March 13.

In terms of reporting, he continued, there were around 1,500 incoming reports, added with 700 findings by Bawaslu. According to him, the process of handling cases based on reports and findings is a challenge for Bawaslu. However, Rahmat emphasized that Bawaslu is committed to following up on every case that has sufficient evidence, including cases that go viral on social media or those that are not.

This is because the handling of this case reflects efforts to maintain election integrity and ensure that every violation gets action in accordance with applicable law.

On the other hand, he also admits that gaps for violations always exist, given the human factors involved in this very large-scale democratic party. However, the most important thing for Bawaslu is how these violations can affect the election results.

"Every vote at the Voting Point (TPS) and every vote in the recapitulation must have the same weight in determining the final result," he said.

In the history of elections in Indonesia, Rahmat said that the dispute over the Legislative Election (Pileg) always dominates when compared to disputes related to the Presidential Election (Pilpres).

In particular, he also highlighted the case of changes to the Permanent Voter List (DPT) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. He explained that there were indications of violations committed without following the procedures stipulated by law.

In Kuala Lumpur, the number of verified voters is only 68 thousand out of a total of around 440 thousand Indonesian citizens. This case is also the starting point that reveals the problem of recording Indonesian citizens abroad, thus requiring an in-depth evaluation of the postal method used.

"Even though President Jokowi once emphasized that the General Election Commission (KPU) should not ignore administrative aspects that are an important foundation in holding elections," he said.

Since 2008, continued Rahmat, Bawaslu has overseen the election process and succeeded in bringing the election crime to court, including the case in Kuala Lumpur. However, for cases abroad the complexity of criminal acts adds to the complexity in handling the case in question.

Therefore, he also admitted that he felt proud to be able to bring the case in Kuala Lumpur into the court stage.

"In the history of election escorts since 2008, election crimes abroad can go to court, break eggs now!" he said proudly.