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KPU defends regulation on banning corruption-tainted candidates
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Officials move ballot boxes from the warehouse of the Surakarta General Elections Commission (KPU) office in Surakarta, Central Java, on June 7. (Antara/Mohammad Ayudha)
T
he General Elections Commission (KPU) has defended its stance not to allow ex-corruption, drugs and sexual assault convicts to run in the 2019 legislative election, despite receiving pushback, including by the Law and Human Rights Ministry.
In the latest move, the ministry returned the KPU Regulation (PKPU) to the commission and asked it to reconsider the regulation before the ministry validated it. The KPU asserted it would not revise any part of the regulation.
“We maintain our stance that ex-corruption, drugs and sexual assault convicts should not be allowed to be legislative candidates. All those crimes have motives,” KPU commissioner Pramono Ubaid Tanthowi said Tuesday.
The KPU began drafting the regulation in December last year, despite objections from the Elections Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu) and the House of Representatives, which accused the commission of violating Law No. 7/2017 on general elections.
The law states that former graft convicts who have served sentences of more than five years can run in legislative elections as long as they publicly declare their status.
The PKPU is intended to ensure clean elections and produce legislators that have integrity in response to concerns over the growing number of arrests of legislative council members.
The Law and Human Rights Ministry’s law and regulations director general Widodo Ekatjahjana said the ministry asked the KPU to revise the PKPU to bring it in line with the Elections Law. Therefore, the ministry has postponed the validation of the PKPU. (ebf)
