The General Elections Commission (KPU) has made the process a priority following a ruling made by the Election Organization Ethics Council (DKPP) that found Wahyu had violated its code of ethics, which led to a recommendation to dismiss him from his position.

KPU chairman Arief Budiman said on Wednesday that he had sent a letter to President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo regarding Wahyu’s arrest, as the law stipulates that the President is responsible for appointing and dismissing KPU commissioners.

The KPK arrested Wahyu last week for allegedly asking for a bribe of Rp 900 million (US$65,948) in exchange for his approval for Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) politician Harun Masiku to fill the House of Representatives seat of Nazarudin Kiemas, who died prior to the election.

Wahyu submitted a resignation letter immediately after the antigraft body named him a bribery suspect last week. He confirmed this on Wednesday saying that he “has resigned since Jan. 10”.

Arief, however, begged to differ: “As long as there’s no presidential decree that dismisses Wahyu from his position, he is formally still a KPU commissioner.”

Should the President issue an official decree on Wahyu’s dismissal, Arief added that the KPU would appoint a replacement, who might be I Dewa Kade Wiarsa Raka Sandi, a member of the Elections Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu) in Bali, who won the eighth-highest number votes during the selection of the current commissioners.

Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung told journalists on Wednesday that he also did not know whether the President had issued the decree. “We might have to wait for the DKPP to issue a ruling, then other KPU commissioners will file an official request with the President,” he said.

The council on Thursday also found Wahyu guilty of violating the election organizer’s code of ethics. The ethics probe into the suspended KPU commissioner was a follow-up to a petition filed by members of Bawaslu.

The DKPP issued the ruling after holding a hearing on Wednesday to listen to Wahyu’s testimony and defense against the allegation.

“We hereby sentence the defendant by permanently discharging him from his position as KPU commissioner,” DKPP acting chairman Muhammad said, reading the ruling on Thursday.

DKPP member Ida Budhiati said that Wahyu’s action of communicating and meeting PDI-P members regarding the replacement of a deceased lawmaker was viewed as a “partisan action that violated the law and the ethics code.”

“The meetings and communications between the defendant and [the party members] showed bad faith on the part of the defendant to obtain benefits by misusing his authority,” Ida said, reading the ruling.

The KPK allege that Wahyu asked for Rp 900 million from Harun so the latter could fill the seat left vacant following the death of Nazarudin — the brother-in-law of PDI-P chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri.

The KPU had already appointed PDI-P politician Riezky Aprilia in August to take Nazarudin’s seat, in line with a Supreme Court ruling against the party’s regulation on the replacement of lawmakers.

The political party then sent another letter to the KPU, in which businessman Saeful allegedly asked Agustiani Tio Fridulina to lobby Wahyu to declare Harun the final replacement. Both Saeful and Agustiani were former PDI-P legislative candidates.

Agustiani has also been named a suspect for allegedly accepting a payment, while Saeful and Harun — who is still at large — are also suspected of paying the bribes.

According to the KPK, Wahyu answered Saeful’s request by sending a message to Agustiani: “Siap, mainkan!” — which can be loosely translated as “Consider it done!”

During the ethics hearing on Wednesday, Wahyu told the council that his words were misinterpreted as an agreement to Saeful’s request. On the other hand, Wahyu said it was difficult for him to avoid those meetings given his friendship with Agustiani.

Aside from Wahyu, the DKPP had also warned other KPU commissioners for “allowing [Wahyu] to violate DKPP and KPU regulations [on the code of ethics].” The council argued that the KPU commissioners did not warn Wahyu that he had potentially violated regulations by communicating with the PDI-P members.

“The DKPP warned the KPU chairman and members to ramp up its internal supervision system,” Ida said.

The KPU is set to organize another round of simultaneous regional elections in September in 270 regions across the country.

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