KPU Sanctioned By DKPP On Private Jets, Commission II Of The DPR Will Tighten Budget Supervision

DOC VOI

Member of Commission II of the House of Representatives, Mardani Ali Sera, regretted the harsh warning sanctions to the chairman and four members of the General Elections Commission (KPU) for being proven to have budgeted for the procurement of private jets of Rp 90 billion in the 2024 General Election.

Mardani said, if an element of administrative violation or misuse of state finances is found, the government and law enforcement officials must follow up on the findings of the Election Organizing Leadership Council (DKPP) through a transparent legal process.

"We will ensure that the DPR's supervision of the KPU is tightened in the next budget discussion. The KPU must again become a respected institution, not a question of its morality," Mardani told reporters, Thursday, October 23.

Mardani emphasized that this harsh warning sanction must be a lesson for election organizers, especially the KPU, to carry out the principles of propriety and ethics, especially in the policy of using the budget.

"I am certainly saddened by this sanction. Moreover, in the trial it was proven that there was an allocation of allocation. This must be a lesson that the principle of propriety and ethics must be carried out. Professionals mean that the money spent must be comparable to the results," he said.

"The KPU is an institution that is the main guardian of people's sovereignty. Therefore, any action that reflects a luxurious lifestyle, misuse of budget, or decisions that are not oriented towards public efficiency is a form of betrayal of the constitutional mandate," continued the PKS legislator.

Mardani assessed that the reasons for using private jets for 'logistical monitoring' put forward by the KPU were not rationally and administratively acceptable. Moreover, based on the results of the DKPP inspection, of the 59 times the use of private jets, none of them was directed to the 3T area (exposed, frontier, outermost) but to areas that have regular commercial flight routes.

"This shows the inaccuracy of justification and violation of the principle of efficiency in the management of the state budget," said Mardani.

Mardani also urged a comprehensive audit by the BPK and a thorough evaluation by the Ministry of Finance and KemenPAN-RB of the KPU operational expenditure system, including official travel schemes, logistics procurement, and socialization financing.

He also invited the public to continue to monitor and report if there were allegations of irregularities against the implementation of democracy, especially related to the implementation of elections.

"This case is also a note for the public. Just monitor and report if there are opportunities for irregularities," concluded Mardani.

The DKPP previously imposed sanctions on the KPU Chair, namely Afifuddin and four KPU members, namely Idham Holik, Persada Harahap, August Mellaz, and Yulianto Sudrajat.

The facts of the trial found that there was a KPU budget ceiling related to the procurement of private jet rentals as support for logistics distribution vehicles for monitoring and evaluation of election logistics in 2024 with funding sources from the APBN worth Rp 90 billion with the implementation of contracts from January to February 2024.

One of the trips revealed in the trial was that private jets were used to go to Bali with an agenda of monitoring logistics, sorting, and folding votes. In addition to Bali, private jets are also used to go to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to check the problem of calculating the votes of the foreign electoral district that occurred.

Several other private jet allocations for the KPU are to carry out the fit and proper test for candidates for members of the East Java, Riau, and East Kalimantan KPU.