DKPP head Jimly Asshiddiqie said the establishment of an election court would support the Election Supervisory Agency’s (Bawaslu) work as it would have the authority to enforce administrative laws in regional elections.

“This authority will strengthen Bawaslu and hopefully this can be implemented effectively. It seems, however, that the agency’s authority will be limited only to regional election processes. Therefore, we must discuss the idea of setting up an election court,” Jimly said in Jakarta on Monday.

The constitutional law expert said such a court could be established in various ways. First, Bawaslu could be given the authority to conduct trials on election disputes. With such authority, Bawaslu’s function as an elections supervisory agency must be removed. Second, the electoral court could be handled by other institutions so that Bawaslu could maintain its current function.

“As an alternative, the DKPP could serve as an honorary election court. So, it would not only process ethical disputes but also legal violations,” he said.

Earlier, Bawaslu chairman Muhammad said the agency would have the authority to impose administrative sanctions and disqualify regional head candidates proven guilty of violating election laws, such as through transactional politics.

With the new authority, Bawaslu would be allowed to process electoral disputes and prosecute election law violations, which would be later handled by the election court. (ebf)

Popular

Indonesia not affected by Southeast Asia-wide heat wave: BMKG

Residents fear for safety as Mount Ruang volcano erupts

In defense of Indonesian democracy