NGO coalition demands politicians out from KPU

A coalition of NGOs has asked the House of Representatives to cancel its decision to   grant politicans membership of the General Elections Commissions (KPU), fearing a conflict of interest.

“The commission should propose an alternative to the meeting result because opening the door to the KPU is a big mistake,” Hadar Gumay, coordinator of the Center for Electoral Reform (Cetro), one of the NGOs, said in a media release on Thursday.

He said if accommodating politicians was necessary, the opportunity to be a KPU member should be given to those who had not participated in politics for at least five years to guarantee the person’s integrity.

Besides Cetro, other names such as Puskappol UI, Sigma Indonesia and KIPP were in the NGO coalition.

The home affairs commission's recent meeting, which was part of the general elections organizer bill deliberation, had resulted in seven of nine political parties agreeing to accommodate politicians as KPU members. However, two other parties, the Democratic Party and the Nation Mandate Party, dissented to the majority.

These two parties insisted on having no politician in the upcoming KPU. They reasoned that accommodating politicians in the upcoming KPU would then jeopardize the country’s future democracy.