(The Jakarta Post, 12 March 2010): The Elections Supervisory Board, (Bawaslu), should be dissolved to allow greater public participation in monitoring of general elections, an NGO focused on governance reform said Thursday.
Didik Supriyanto from Partnership said his organization recommended legislators revise the 2002 General Elections Law to disband Bawaslu, which he said was ineffective as its authority overlapped with that of the General Elections Commission (KPU) and the police.
“The establishment of an institution such as Bawaslu is unique to Indonesia. It is a relic of the New Order regime,” Didik said at a visit to The Jakarta Post.
Indonesia did not have a state-run poll watchdog when it held its first election in 1955. It only established one in 1982, following reports of massive election fraud during the 1977 elections.
The reports were filed by the then United Development Party (PPP) and the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI).
The House of Representatives, then dominated by the Golkar Party and the military, heeded their demands and amended election law to improve the legitimacy of the 1982 elections.
“*The Bawaslu* was created in response to popular protests and to cover up the many violations committed by Golkar at the time,” Didik said.
Partnership said the number of civil society-based poll watchdogs in the 2004 and 2009 elections declined compared to 1999 when the first post-New Order elections were held.
The organization argued that the trend was caused by public reluctance to do what Bawaslu supposedly does.
“Public participation in elections should be more than just about casting votes. It should also be about getting involved in supervising the poll,” Ramlan Surbakti from Partnership said.
Partnership proposed that the authority to receive and handle reports of election violations be returned to the KPU and the police.
An honorary council also needs to be established to handle ethics violations committed by KPU members, it added.
The Bawaslu and the KPU are embroiled in a dispute over the formation of 191 regional election supervisory bodies. The Bawaslu brought the dispute to the Constitutional Court after the two sides failed to reach a compromise.
