Village heads who fail to maintain neutrality in regional elections can be dismissed from their positions, the Home Ministry’s village governance director general, La Ode Ahmad Pidana Bolombo, has warned.

This rule is outlined in Law No. 4/2014 on villages and Home Ministerial Regulation No. 82/2015 on the dismissal and appointment of village heads.

"Even if allegations arise that are not proven, I believe the instruments are available, whether verbal, written, or even leading to temporary dismissal, which can extend to full dismissal," La Ode told a press conference in Jakarta on Monday, as quoted by kompas.com.

He emphasized that such strict measures were a last resort to maintain the neutrality of village heads.

These sanctions can be applied if mitigation efforts, such as education and warnings, have been made and the village heads still show bias or are found to have committed electoral offenses.

As an initial step, the ministry will focus on preventive measures to avoid abuses of power. "We are providing guidance and capacity building for village government apparatus and community institutions to enhance public service quality, including the conduct of the elections," La Ode said.

This focus on neutrality follows concerns raised by a gathering of village heads in Central Java on Oct. 23, which ended in a raid by the Semarang Elections Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu) at a luxury hotel in Semarang.

Bawaslu suspected that the meeting’s objective was to mobilize support for certain gubernatorial candidates in the regional elections.

"Several village heads present said that this event was a social gathering and consolidation of the Central Java Village Heads Association [PKD] under the slogan ‘One Command Together Until the End’," Semarang Bawaslu chairman Arief Rahman said on Friday, as quoted by kompas.com.

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