Bawaslu Jakarta Not Responsive, Proactive in Addressing Campaign Violations: Watchdog
Jakarta. Titi Anggraini, executive director of the Association for Elections and Democracy, or Perludem, has accused the Jakarta branch of the General Election Supervisory Board, or Bawaslu, of not being responsive and proactive in the performance of its duties.
Titi said Bawaslu's actions to address campaign violations in recent weeks was inadequate and that it was too slow to respond.
"Unfortunately, with all the dynamics and commotion in the Jakarta gubernatorial election, the performance of Bawaslu in the capital was slow, not proactive or responsive," Titi said in Jakarta on Saturday (07/01).
"The Jakarta gubernatorial election has become the focus for news coverage, which provides easy access to information. There is an expectation that the committees, both Bawaslu and the KPU [General Elections Commission], should become the reference for other regions," she said.
The watchdog group said Bawaslu needs better infrastructure, resources and funding to address various violations during the campaign period, with easy access to any information related to such issues.
"Aside from being slow, Bawaslu in Jakarta communicated poorly, as it seems unable to innovate. We rarely heard the institution making public reports on its regular supervision, or about any campaign violations," Titi said.
One vivid example of this she said, was the fact that some candidate pairs were being prevented from conducting their campaigns in certain areas.
"[Bawaslu] always says it is waiting for reports but it is passive in its response. It should have been active, with all the news and videos published by the media. This may prevent repeated actions by some groups to prevent candidates from campaigning," she said.
Perludem said Bawaslu should swiftly respond to the facts and act firmly against any perpetrators.
"They should not be allowed to get away with their actions as they put candidates at a disadvantage, while Jakarta residents are unable to receive adequate information on the programs and goals of certain candidate pairs," Titi said.
She added that unhindered campaigning was essential to allow voters to make informed decisions on who to vote for among the three gubernatorial candidates.
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