PEKANBARU - As the 2024 Regional Head Election (Pilkada) approaches, public attention
is turning to a number of candidates who continue to utilise governmental assets and positions for personal political gain. This tendency raises issues about fairness in the
democratic process in Indonesia.

Saiman Pakpahan, a political observer from the University of Riau, highlighted this
behaviour as a kind of excess power used by regional head candidates who still hold public
office.

"First, those who are in office but are running for regional head often take advantage of state
facilities and the power they have for political interests," said Saiman, Wednesday
(18/9/2024).

He went on to say that when an official makes political gestures and intends to run in regional elections, he should forsake all associated public institutions.

"Substantially, when he seems to want to play politics, he must be fair and leave that position.
Because the facilities he uses are public facilities, not group facilities," explained Saiman.

However, in practice, many regional head candidates hide behind an administrative approach.

They argued that their status was still limited to candidates and had not been officially
determined by the General Election Commission (KPU).

"Administratively, they are claiming that they were not appointed as candidates. So they may
still take advantage of their situations," he said.

Saiman highlighted a concrete example where there are still regional head candidates who are currently still in office, and are traveling around carrying out outreach using state facilities, while the socialization billboards have been spread in various places.

"When asked, they say, 'I'm still registering, it hasn't been decided yet.' "Administratively,
that is true, but substantially, they have become candidates and are starting to use their power for electoral gain," he added.

This position presents a quandary for the General Election Supervisory Agency, which is
constrained by current procedures. According to Saiman, the General Election Supervisory
Agency cannot intervene since there are no rules particularly governing instances like these.

"The General Election Supervisory Agency itself is also bound by existing regulations, so it
cannot take action because administratively, there have been no violations," he said.

This dilemma gets even more difficult when confronted with the neutrality requirements for the State Civil Apparatus (ASN), where minor ASNs are barred from engaging in politics, yet leaders who compete for government actively utilise their positions for political purposes.

"Ironically, small State Civil Apparatus (ASN) are prohibited from engaging in politics, butt hose who lead them actually engage in politics. This is a big problem in our government system which allows political phenomena to run substantially, but is subject to inadequate bureaucratic regulations," said Saiman.

He also emphasised that the General Election Commission, as the organiser of the Pilkada, should be able to read and manage the situation better.

"The General Election Commission should be able to see this political gesture, that an official
who is running for office is using his power for electoral interests. This is damaging democracy because they are using resources that should be owned fairly by all participants in
the Regional Head Election," Saiman stressed.

In the future, stricter regulations are needed to prevent abuse of office by regional head
candidates who are still in office, in order to ensure healthy and equal political competition
for all participants.

Author : Dini
Editor: Riki