The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) named on Thursday KPU commissioner Wahyu Setiawan as a bribery suspect, accusing him of demanding Rp 900 million (US$65,457) from Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) politician Harun Masiku as the latter was seeking a seat in the House of Representatives.

The money was allegedly given in exchange for influencing the KPU in choosing Harun, then a legislative candidate, as a replacement for Nazarudin Kiemas, whose seat became vacant after his death in March 2019, even though Harun garnered fewer votes than other party hopefuls in the April legislative election.

The case has emerged just eight months before the simultaneous regional elections in which 270 regions across the country are to be electing leaders; comprising nine governors, 224 regents and 37 mayors. 

The poll body, tasked with organizing the elections, is in the midst of preparing the simultaneous elections and is currently recruiting members for the adhoc district election committees (PPK) and the polling committees (PPS). 

Wahyu’s case, however, might disrupt the KPU’s preparations — a concern voiced by Association for Elections and Democracy (Perludem) director Titi Anggraini.

“Technically, [the arrest] won’t affect the administration of regional elections. However, internally, the KPU will struggle to keep up with their time for legal deliberation. They won’t fully concentrate on the regional elections,” she told The Jakarta Post on Friday.

In the wake of the case, Titi said that the KPU needed a firm way to measure every member of the body to make sure that they were not involved in any questionable practices, as this could further risk the public’s trust in the independent commission.

“The KPU needs to anticipate the public’s pragmatism and distrust of the body. Thus, the body needs to build good communications and reassure the public through well-prepared regional elections. The KPU must convince the public that such a graft scandal won’t happen again,” she said.

While Wahyu is the fifth KPU central commissioner to be implicated in a graft case during their active periods, he is the first to be named a suspect in a case implicating political party members. Aside from Harun, another PDI-P politician, Agustiani Tio Fridelina, was also named a suspect for allegedly helping to smooth out Harun’s way to the House by lobbying Wahyu at the request of a man named Saeful.

The KPK said that the legal process against Wahyu was aimed to “save the KPU” and that any conspiracy between the poll body’s commissioner and politicians was “a betrayal of the democratic process”.

Network for Democracy and Electoral Integrity founders Hadar Nafis Gumay and Sigit Pamungkas, both former KPU commissioners, said that the case was unlikely to affect technical preparations ahead of the simultaneous elections as commissioners could still take decisions even with Wahyu’s absence. In terms of regional elections, the central KPU was also assisted considerably by a large secretariat and KPU chapters working directly in the field.

They both agreed, however, that the case could taint the poll body’s image among voters. Hadar, for one, said the problem was in the public’s trust, especially as the public remained polarized following the 2019 presidential election. 

The KPU faced various accusations of electoral fraud last year from the campaign team of losing presidential ticket Prabowo Subianto and Sandiaga Uno, which also spurred deadly postelection protests.

“The focus, however, shouldn’t only be on the KPU, but also on political parties and candidates who’ve tried to break the existing system and regulations. [...] As the saying goes, it takes two to tango; what if it takes hundreds now? The KPK should investigate deep into the case,” he said.

Sigit, meanwhile, highlighted the large moral burden shouldered by the KPU in inviting the public to vote in the coming regional elections amid the revelation of a graft case that this time not only involved politicians, but also an election organizer.

“This case will make it hard for the KPU to assure voters and candidates in the regional elections as the poll body no longer has moral legitimacy to campaign for an honest and just election with integrity,” he said, suggesting that reporting the case to the ethics council would help mend the KPU’s image as it could prove that the perpetrator was acting on his own.

The KPU, along with the Elections Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu), said that it would file a report to the Election Organization Ethics Council (DKPP) alleging that Wahyu had violated the poll body’s code of ethics, a proactive measure that KPU chairman Arief Budiman said aimed to maintain the public’s trust in the poll body.

Arief acknowledged that the case was a major setback for the poll body, but dismissed concerns that it had affected preparations for the simultaneous regional elections, as well as the public’s perception of the KPU. 

“I would like to assure the public that the KPU has adopted a system and a procedure to maintain the election process and the KPU’s work performance. Anyone not following the procedure will be sanctioned,” Arief added.

He said that he had instructed all poll body members to maintain transparency, integrity and professionalism in their work ahead of the 2020 elections as they had done in 2019, citing a survey that showed high public trust for the KPU. Surveys conducted prior to the 2019 elections indeed showed that a majority of the public trusted the KPU.

He said that Wahyu had submitted a resignation letter that would be sent to President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, who would be deliberating over the former’s dismissal from his position. Once Wahyu is dismissed, the KPU would appoint a replacement who might be I Dewa Kade Wiarsa Raka Sandi, a member of Bawaslu Bali who earned the eighth most votes during the selection of the current commissioners. (trn)

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