Hundreds of Indonesian Public Servants are ignoring laws that mandate they remain neutral during election campaigns by actively campaigning for candidates in the run-up to this year’s regional elections.
The Election Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu) said it had found 369 Public Servants who had committed ‘neutrality violation,’ about a third were senior officials.
Chair of Bawaslu, Abhan said Public Servants broke the rules by participating in a political campaign on social media, attending candidates’ events or putting up campaign billboards and banners.
In a statement, the Civil Service Commission (KASN) said 195 out of the 369 violation reports had been followed up with 47 reports being verified.
“The bureaucracy cannot take sides. We can’t afford to have more of this violation,” Mr Abhan said.
“We’ve agreed to develop integrated surveillance data management and application. The most crucial thing is to improve data accuracy so we can follow up on cases,” he said.
Mr Abhan said the different campaigning methods this year, dominated by online activities and social media due to the COVID-19 pandemic, had opened up loopholes for electoral violations.
“We are trying our hardest to keep the elections free and fair,” he said.
“The KASN should impose strict sanctions on Civil Servants who get themselves involved in political activities in order to deter others.”
Asked his opinion, Chair of KASN, Agus Pramusinto (pictured) said many Public Servants did not understand the importance of neutrality in elections.
“Governors, Mayors and district heads have to understand they are not allowed to get their Civil Servants involved in politics,” Professor Pramusinto said.
Jakarta, 20 June 2020
