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KPU chair officially sacked over sexual harassment
President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo signed a decree stipulating the dishonorable discharge of General Elections Commission (KPU) chair Hasyim Asy'ari following a ruling from the Election Organization Ethics Council (DKPP) that found the poll body head guilty of an ethical violation for sexual harassment and recommended his dismissal.
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General Elections Commission (KPU) chairman Hasyim Asy'ari (center, front row), accompanied by KPU commisisoners Idham Holik (right, front row) and Mohammad Afifuddin (left, front row), gives a press statement at the KPU headquarters in Jakarta on July 3, 2024 in response to an Election Organization Ethics Council (DKPP) decision to order his dismissal. The DKPP has sacked Hasyim over the sexual harassment of an Overseas Election Committee (PPLN) member. (Antara/Bayu Pratama S)
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resident Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has signed a presidential decree on the dismissal of Hasyim Asy’ari from his role as the chairman and commissioner of the General Elections Commission (KPU) after he was found guilty of an ethical violation for harassing a female overseas poll administrator.
The decree was signed on Tuesday, according to the coordinator of presidential special aides Ari Dwipayana.
“Following up the Election Organization Ethics Council [DKPP] ruling [...], the President has signed a decree on the dishonorable dismissal of Hasyim Asy’ari as a KPU member for the 2022-2027 term,” Ari said on Wednesday, as quoted by kompas.com.
In a ruling read on July 3, the DKPP recommended President Jokowi to formally remove Hasyim from his job no later than seven days after the ruling, in which the poll body chair was found guilty of an ethical breach for sexually harassing a member of The Hague Overseas Election Committee (PPLN) in the Netherlands last year.
Read also: KPU appoints acting chairman to replace Hasyim
The six-member ethics panel said Hasyim had misused his authority and state resources to compel the PPLN member, who filed a complaint with the DKPP, to have sex with him in a hotel in Amsterdam in October 2023.
Following the issuance of the decree on Tuesday, Vice President Ma’ruf Amin suggested that it could be important to add an additional KPU commissioner as Hasyim’s replacement.
“If there is still something lacking from the KPU’s [current line up], [we need to] strengthen and complete it. If there’s a need for additional members because one was sacked, than add a new one,” the Vice President said on Wednesday, as quoted by Antara.
Ma’ruf reasserted that Hasyim’s dismissal would not disrupt the preparations ahead of the upcoming simultaneous regional head elections, which voting day is slated for Nov. 27.
This year’s simultaneous regional head elections will be the first for Indonesia, with more than 500 provinces, regencies and cities are set to elect their heads in November. (rad)
