Experts split over Pastika's police job

Dicky Christanto ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Denpasar   |  Fri, 06/13/2008 10:04 AM  |  Bali

Experts are divided over whether Bali gubernatorial candidate I Made Mangku Pastika's position as a serving police officer makes him ineligible to run in the province's July 9 election.

According to one expert, Pastika should have resigned in order to run in the election, while another said Pastika's temporary resignation was enough to continue the process.

Pastika's position as a serving police officer poses a serious problem because it can disrupt the integrity of the whole election process as his candidacy is not permitted by law, said Udayana University law professor Ibrahim.

Under the Indonesian Police Law, active officers are prohibited from running in general elections.

"It is obvious Mangku Pastika is still a police officer because he holds only written permission from the head of the National Police about his temporary resignation. Therefore, he has no other option but to quit as a police officer if he wants to continue in the election," Ibrahim said.

Ibrahim said the status of other candidates was not in question, because Regulation No. 25/2007 allowed temporary resignation for public officials.

The other candidates are I Gede Winasa, the regent of Jembrana, and Cokorda Budi Suryawan, a local lawmaker.

Johanes Usfunan, an expert on state administrative law also from Udayana University, disputed Ibrahim's statements about Pastika's active status as a police officer.

Usfunan said Pastika had complied with the Local Administration Law, which, he said, required only a temporary resignation, not a permanent one.

In this case, Usfunan said, Pastika held a temporary resignation letter from his supervisor, the National Police chief Gen. Sutanto.

"And that is enough," he told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.

"Police officers and civil servants have the right to be nominated as candidates as long as they meet the requirements set by the regulation."

Usfunan's remarks were supported by Bali General Elections Commission (KPUD) chairman Anak Agung Oka Wisnumurti, who said Monday that Pastika's status as a police officer was clear and in compliance with both the relevant regulation and KPUD's Circular No. 5/2008, which allow any official to resign temporarily from his or her position.

"Therefore, there is no problem with him continuing in the election process," he said, as reported by local newspaper Bali Post on Monday.

Wisnumurti said the KPUD did not have the authority to decide the matter by applying the National Police Law.

"We have our own law, namely the Local Administration Law, and according to this law, temporary resignation will do," he said.

Pastika was the chairman of the National Narcotics Agency before being nominated as a gubernatorial candidate by the largest political party in Bali, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), earlier this year.

However, Ibrahim insisted the Local Administration Law and other regulations applied only to those who held regular civil servant positions, but not to those from the Army or police, as was clearly stated in National Police Law.

"For those who have a military or police background, a special law applies. Therefore, the KPUD should apply the National Police Law in this case," he said.

He said the relevant principle was the legal phrase "Lex specialis derogat lex generalis", which means a specific law prevails over a general law.

"To me, to this point, it is clear politics are playing a dominant role in the whole election process," he said.

Copyright © 2008 The Jakarta Post - PT Bina Media Tenggara. All Rights Reserved.