Indonesian Bawaslu Calls Election Governance Better If The Institution Is Not Changed To Ad Hoc

Chairman of the Indonesian General Election Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu) Rahmat Bagja said that election governance in Indonesia will be better if Bawaslu's institutional status is not changed to an ad hoc institution, which is to remain permanent.

"We think that with this recklessness, with the permanent election organizers, for us, the electoral justice system, the election justice system is getting better and our election governance will also be better with this attitude," said Bagja in response. ANTARA when met in Badung, Bali, Monday.

According to him, the discourse on changing the status of the electoral, KPU and Bawaslu organizations to become ad hoc institutions will actually cause new problems.

"With the ad hoc, we think it will become another problem about money politics. In fact, it will be a matter of training and others, and also the problems of regency/city KPU friends who also have secretariats," he said.

In addition, according to Bagja, with this permanent institutional status, Bawaslu can apply the principle of sustainable and tiered meritocracy for its members. In this case, an election supervisor who has a career as a sub-district supervisory committee (panwascam) can rise to become a member of the central Bawaslu.

"People who have a career from below, from the Panwascam of the PPK, then enter Bawaslu, enter the district, enter then to the Republic of Indonesia, that is an interesting thing to then become one uniqueness of the Indonesian election organizers," said Bagja.

Previously, RI Bawaslu Member Lolly Suhenty had also emphasized the urgency of Bawaslu's existence. Lolly, when opening the National Consolidation of Women Supervisory Elections in Badung, Bali, Saturday, December 21, said that Bawaslu was responsible for building political awareness that could not be instantaneous and needed a long process.

"People often forget, rice doesn't exist, it is grown into rice. Just put the rice in a long process, the soil is prepared first, it is embraced first. The soil is good, then planted. It's planted, it needs to be treated so it doesn't eat pests, it needs to be watered, everything is confirmed," said Lolly.

According to Lolly, the non-ectional and regional elections period is important to instill awareness of electoral values. At that stage, Bawaslu took a role.

"People often say, Bawaslu doesn't obviously work. What do you want to do in the absence of stages? Just eat blind salaries, just like the KPU. Can you hear that? 'Makgabut', eat blind salaries, he said. We have to answer by making programs in 2025 which can be seen Bawaslu is indeed working," he said.