Ade Yasin Gets OTT KPK, PPP Threatened 'Paralyzed' Not Fulfilling PT 4 Percent

JAKARTA - Paramadina University Political Observer Ahmad Khoirul Umam assessed that the United Development Party (PPP) was in danger of losing votes because it could not meet the 4 percent parliamentary threshold (PT) after its cadre Ade Yasin was exposed to the KPK OTT.

Therefore, Umam assessed that PPP needed to consolidate in the regions, especially in West Java in order to maintain the vote acquisition in the 2024 General Election because West Java contributed 3 of the 19 PPP Faction seats in the Indonesian House of Representatives in the 2019 Election.

"The Corruption Eradication Commission's designation of the suspect for the Bogor Regent Ade Yasin, who is also the Chairperson of the West Java PPP DPW, has the potential to have a serious impact on the PPP's political power in the 2024 election," Umam said as quoted from a written statement received in Jakarta, Antara, Thursday, May 5.

PPP's vote acquisition in the 2019 election only reached 4.52 percent or only 0.52 percent greater than the parliamentary threshold (PT) of 4 percent.

"This means that PPP must be able to maintain the existence of a minimum number of 19 seats for members of the DPR RI or even increase it so as not to be relegated from the Senayan political zone," said Umam.

"Quick consolidation is absolutely necessary, especially in PPP voting areas in West Java because Ade Yasin's arrest is believed to have the potential to threaten the sustainability of PPP's vote acquisition," said Umam, who is currently active as Executive Director of the Institute for Democracy and Strategic Affairs (IndoStrategic).

"Learning from the corruption cases that befell the PPP General Chair in 2019 and the West Java DPW PPP Chair in 2022, PPP must work in a very disciplined and careful manner. The pragmatism and missteps of the political elite and its cadres have the potential to have a serious impact on the fate of PPP in the future," said Umam.

Bogor Regent Ade Yasin was arrested by the KPK last month in a hand arrest operation (OTT) related to a bribery case that also involved West Java BPK employees. In the OTT, the KPK secured a total of IDR 1.024 billion of evidence, consisting of IDR 570 million in cash and around IDR 454 million in bank accounts.

KPK chairman Firli Bahuri said the bribe was given by the Bogor Regent to BPK employees so that the Bogor Regency Government's financial reports received an unqualified predicate/value (WTP).