Tuesday, March 19, 2024 | 12:54 WIB

Prominent figures demand the creation of a fact-finding team for the 2019 election

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IO – The simultaneous 2019 elections have entered their final phase i. e., counting the number of voters and determining the winner.  The elections where for the first time, elections for president, parliament and similar regional institutions took place simultaneously, left many problems stemming largely from a lack of credibility of the organizers. This year, the once-in-5-years democratic process brought in Joko Widodo-Ma’aruf Amin versus Prabowo Subianto-Sandiaga Uno.

Sudirman Said, the Director of Debate Material for the National Committee to elect Prabowo-Sandi (BPN) confided to the Independent Observer that he viewed the elections with mixed feelings. On the one hand, he felt that it was important to appreciate the KPU’s colossal effort in carrying out the people’s interest, with some technical errors that were bound to happen here and there. On the other hand, he stated, ‘I am very concerned about people’s reactions. There is an enthusiasm, a desire that was aroused during the campaign that is not reflected in the published count result. I feel that there is a serious link missing in the entire procedure. I am truly concerned that the people’s disappointment could crystallize into an explosive something, something that we ordinarily would wish to avoid.” 

Meanwhile, Said Didu, former Special Staff of the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources, stated that the extent of election fraud in the 2019 elections is the worst ever since Indonesia first began holding elections. We have found evidence of fraud that we believe to be structured, systematic, and massive, starting from the first phase of elections planning until the vote counts. All phases of the elections from the method of determining temporary voters’ lists, the method of determining final voters lists right up to the current vote counts – show evidence of systematic fraud.

Meanwhile, human rights lawyer, Bambang Widjojanto is of the opinion that winning or losing is not what is most important in an election. It is not about Jokowi vs. Prabowo, but about honest elections. The fraud that we have witnessed in this election is a form of systematic dishonesty that is undermining the whole democratic process in Indonesia. If nearly half the nation no longer trusts the democratic process then we are in a very dangerous position and the very stability of our nation is at risk. People need honest leaders who respect and uphold the democratic process.   The only way that we see out of this is the formation of an independent body whose members are agreed to on both sides that can clarify all incoming complaints. This is in the context of independent fact finders. This body would need to consist of professionals, that is to say, professional public accountants for auditing, forensic experts, academicians, etc. Whether we need to have re-elections or not must be based on the results of the fact-finding mission. 

In line with Bambang Widjojanto, the Chairman of the Indonesian Ulema Council’s (MUI) Advisory Council, Din Syamsuddin also encouraged the formation of a fact-finding team in response to the deaths of hundreds of officers of polling committees (KPPS) who died after or while serving.  The General Election Commission noted that until Sunday (5/5), the number of KPPS officers who died after or during the elections had reached 554 people.

The Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Golkar Party Aburizal Bakrie also expressed the hope that the government would investigate the causes of hundreds of KPPS officers’ deaths.  According to the politicians who has been nicknamed Ical, the government cannot ignore such a large loss of life. 

 “This is a very large number of casualties. It cannot be ignored and is a national tragedy,” Ical said through a written statement on Friday (3/5)

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