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Police warned not to take sides in upcoming elections
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General Election Commission (KPU) member Hadar Nafis Gumay shows examples of documents to be submitted by candidates in next year’s regional elections, at the KPU headquarters in Jakarta on April 20. (Antara/Reno Esnir)
T
he head of the National Police’s Criminal Investigation Department (Bareskrim), Comr. Gen. Ari Dono Sukmanto, has warned police personnel against taking sides in next year’s regional elections.
He remained the officers about a statement from National Police chief Gen. Tito Karnavian on neutrality in the regional elections, which will take place simultaneously in 101 regions across the country.
“The police are neutral in politics. Don’t ever become involved in practical politics,” said Ari in front of police investigators from provincial, mayoral and regency police offices across the country in Jakarta on Thursday, as reported by kompas.com.
He reminded the police officers that the neutrality of the police in elections was stipulated in Law No. 2/2002 on the National Police.
That law also stipulates that police personnel have right to vote or stand for election.
“If any police officer wants to run in the elections, please simply resign,” he said, adding that violators of the law would face sanctions in the form of a warning or dismissal.
He also told police chiefs from across the country to deploy skillful and trained investigators to handle election cases together with representatives of other institutions, like the election monitoring body and prosecutors’ offices, which would be grouped in the Integrated Law Enforcement Center (Gakkundu). (bbn)
