KPU, Bawaslu to Elect New Heads
Jakarta. Newly inaugurated commissioners of the General Election Commission, or KPU, and Election Supervisory Agency, or Bawaslu, will appoint their respective directors during separate plenary meetings on Wednesday (12/04).
President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo inaugurated the incoming batch of KPU and Bawaslu commissioners for the 2017-22 term at the Presidential Palace in Central Jakarta on Tuesday.
"Our first meeting will be led by the oldest and youngest commissioners of our cohort, with the main agenda of electing a new chair," KPU commissioner Arief Budiman said recently.
After the new heads are elected, commissioners of both agencies will begin managing pressing issues, such as conducting hearings on local election lawsuits filed with the Constitutional Court in recent months.
Agency representatives will also elect ex officio commissioners who will serve as members on the Election Organizers Ethics Council (DKPP), Arief said.
Separately, Bawaslu commissioner Mochamad Afifudin said his agency will hold its first plenary meeting on Wednesday afternoon.
He added that the new batch of Bawaslu commissioners will focus on monitoring upcoming local and general elections, evaluating organizational procedures and boosting resident participation.
The newly inaugurated KPU commissioners include Pramono Ubaid Tanthowi, current head of Banten Bawaslu; Wahyu Setiawan, former commissioner of Central Java General Elections Commission (KPUD); Viryan, former commissioner of West Kalimantan KPUD; Evi Novida Ginting, former commissioner of North Sumatra KPUD; Ilham Saputra, former deputy chairman of Aceh Independent Elections Commission (KIP); and two returning KPU commissioners – Hasyim Asy'ari and Arief Budiman.
The new Bawaslu commissioners include Ratna Dewi Petalolo, former head of Central Sulawesi Bawaslu; Mochammad Afifudin, an activist from the government watchdog, People's Voter Education Network (JPPR); Rahmat Bagja, a constitutional law lecturer at Al-Azhar University in Jakarta; Abhan, former head of Central Java Bawaslu; and Fritz Edward Siregar, a lecturer at Jentera Indonesia School of Law, also in Jakarta.
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