This week has seen a great deal of attention paid to the integrity of Indonesia’s electoral process, as allegations of intimidation and manipulation have surfaced surrounding the verification of political parties. Some lawyers representing newly established political parties and employees of regional offices of the General Elections Commission (KPU) have accused the central KPU office of meddling in the process and have threatened to take legal action. The lawyer for the regional officials, Ibnu Syamsu Hidayat, gave the KPU a week to respond to the accusations and stop any attempts to manipulate the results of the “factual verification” process through the intimidation of regional KPU employees. (The Jakarta Post, Dec. 14, 2022). These allegations are concerning and, if borne out, would do significant damage to the public’s trust in the integrity of the electoral process. These allegations are worth examining more closely in a fully transparent and fair manner but must be conducted with the presumption of innocence until proven guilty.
Writer: Laode M. Syarif, Executive Director KEMITRAAN
Read the full article in https://www.thejakartapost.com/opinion/2022/12/25/safeguarding-the-integrity-of-indonesias-electoral-system.html
