Jakarta. The Association for Elections and Democracy has urged the North Sulawesi General Elections Commission, or KPU, to step in and take control of its Manado unit after officials gave a former convict the green light to run in the upcoming regional elections.

The provincial capital's election body (KPUD) has allowed former corruption convict Jimmy Rimba Rogi to campaign for the city's mayoral seat, despite previously stating that he and his running mate Boby Daud failed to meet election requirements.

In addition, the Local Election Supervisory Committee [Panwaslu] had ordered the Manado KPUD to revoke the pair's candidacy.

Current KPU laws allow former convicts to run as governors, district heads and mayors but there has been a debate whether this includes those who have been paroled and are still on probation when voters hit the ballot on Dec. 9.

Jimmy was sent to prison for five years by the Anti-Corruption Court in August 2009 for embezzling money from Manado city coffers in 2006-07, when he was the mayor of the North Sulawesi capital.

The former convict, who was released in August last year, is now running for another term as Manado mayor.

Indonesia Corruption Watch, a non-government watchdog, said despite his recent release, Jimmy remains "on probation" until Dec. 29, 2017, which according to ICW means he is not fit to run.

“It is time for the North Sulawesi KPU to take over the duties of the Manado KPUD. What are the [the latter's] motives for reneging on their decision?" Titi Anggraeni, executive director of the Association for Elections and Democracy (Perludem), said on Friday.

"The National General Elections Commission and it North Sulawesi counterpart must launch an investigation into the possibility that the Manado KPU buckled under pressure to let [Jimmy and Boby] run for mayor and deputy mayor [respectively]."

Titi was partly referring to a demonstration held supporters of the pair in Manado on Monday, demanding the KPU to allow the pair to compete in the upcoming simultaneous regional elections.

“The laws clearly state that all KPUD offices must carry out recommendations handed down from the Panwaslu," she added.

Separately, Elections Supervisory Body (Bawaslu) official Nelson Simanjuntak called on both the national and regional elections bodies to take a firmer approach in responding to the Manado KPU's decision to backtrack on its initial decision to disqualify Jimmy and Boby.

“Both agencies need to be decisive. The North Sulawesi KPU can actually supervise the Manado KPU,” he said.

Tags: Keywords: