ASN Votes In The 2020 Regional Head Election

Member of the Election Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu) Mochammad Afifuddin (Photo: Diah Ayu Wardani / VOI)

JAKARTA - Member of the Election Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu) Mochammad Afifuddin highlighted the potential for fraud in the 2020 Simultaneous Regional Head Elections (Pilkada) through the position of the state civil apparatus (ASN).

Afif said, the ASN Committee (KASN) must anticipate the neutrality of ASN during the election period. This is because the ASN support mobilization can not only be used by incumbent candidates, but also non-incumbent candidates.

"The ASN can not only be mobilized by the incumbent. It could also be used by forces outside the incumbent. Those who are former officials in one region can still grip the ASN mobilization and move them to take sides," Afif said in a virtual discussion, Friday , July 24th.

The neutrality of ASN has become a classic problem that occurs in every political contestation. These government employees do have the right to vote, but they are obliged to be neutral and must not overtly side with one of the candidate pairs.

In fact, since the beginning of the year until last June, Bawaslu has 369 records of violations of ASN neutrality and has been reported to KASN. Some of the violations were related to handling COVID-19.

The categories of violations that are mostly committed are campaigns on social media, staffing activities that side with candidates for election participants, and participating in installing campaign props.

There were 10 regional agencies that committed the most violations. These areas include Wakatobi Regency 18 violations, Sukoharjo 11 Regency, NTB 7 Province, Dompu 7 Regency, Bulukumba 7 Regency, Banggai 7 Regency, Ministry of Education and Culture 6, Makassar City 5, Supiori 5 Regency, and Muna Regency 5.

"This ultimately has an impact on what we call the politicization of aid. Here it has to do with our authority, how we take action against those who take advantage of this assistance," said Afif.

In addition to the neutrality of ASN, Afif also highlighted the high potential for violating money politics by regional head candidates to garner support, especially for low-income voters.

"We have to handle it together because it involves many things. Do not come to a conclusion as if only the voters at the bottom seem to want to get their support through money politics, even though this potential exists at all levels of society.

For information, the 2020 Pilkada will be held in 270 regions in Indonesia. These 270 regions, covering 9 provinces, 224 districts, and 37 cities, as of 9 December. This year's regional elections will be held by implementing the COVID-19 protocol at all stages.