Regulatory Issues on Political Party Information Systems

Commission II of the House of Representatives Holds a Joint Hearing Meeting with the Election Organizing Institution

This photo is the Chairperson of the General Elections Supervisory Agency Rahmat Bagja

The General Elections Supervisory Body provides input on the draft General Election Commission Regulation on registration, verification, and determination of political parties during a Hearing Meeting with Commission II of the House of Representatives together with the General Election Commission, Ministry of Home Affairs, and the Honorary Council for Election Organizers.

The Chairperson of the General Elections Supervisory Agency, Rahmat Bagja, questioned the details of the rules for granting the General Elections Supervisory Body access to reading political party information systems by the General Elections Commission.

In the draft General Election Commission Regulation, Article 143, it is stated that the General Elections Supervisory Agency only has access to data reading without a detailed explanation of the extent to which the General Elections Supervisory Body can access this matter and which levels of election supervisors are granted access to the political party information system.

"Even now, the General Elections Supervisory Agency has not yet obtained access to the political party information system. Even though the stages of registration and verification of political parties will be carried out in the near future. To create an election with integrity, the General Elections Commission should immediately provide access to the political party information system to the National Elections Agency. Election Supervisor so that the monitoring process can be carried out early on," said Bagja at the House of Representatives Building, in Senayan, Jakarta, on Thursday (7/7/2022).

In addition, in carrying out administrative verification of the membership of a political party that is declared Unqualified as referred to in the draft General Election Commission Regulation Article 34, the General Elections Commission conducts a 'preliminary factual verification' related to the membership of a political party that has not met the requirements as referred to in articles 36 and 37.

in the draft of the General Election Commission Regulation. Therefore, the Chairperson of the General Elections Supervisory Agency, Rahmat Bagja, suggested that in this process the General Elections Commission should be able to involve the General Elections Supervisory Agency according to its level because the results of administrative verification of the political party membership requirements are in the form of minutes of potential disputes.

From the experience of the General Elections Commission using the Political Party Information System in accepting registration of candidates for election participants in the last 2019 Election, the General Elections Supervisory Body has several notes which in the Draft Regulation of the General Election Commission so far there is no improvement clause.

"This has the potential to repeat the problem of using the Political Party Information System as in the previous 2019 elections," said Bagja.

Several problems that have the potential to arise are the misuse of individual data/identity by election participants into the Political Party Information System. Second, the mechanism for repairing Political Party Information System data on misused individual data/identity. Third, the mechanism for factual verification of management and members against misuse of data/individuals in the Political Party Information System. Fourth, guarantee the protection of the rights of individuals whose data/identity is misused into the Political Party Information System.

Fifth, the difference in data for the new regions between the data from the General Election Commission and the Ministry of Home Affairs so that the minimum management requirements cannot be fulfilled in the system.

"Sixth, residents in border areas or expansion areas whose population administration has not been updated with the area according to the resident's permanent domicile. Lastly, cannot identify duplicate data between parties," said the Head of the General Elections Supervisory Agency.

Meanwhile, the Chairperson of the General Elections Commission, Hasyim Asy'ari, said that the draft General Election Commission Regulation on registration, verification, and determination of political parties as candidates for the 2024 General Election had no significant changes compared to the General Election Commission Regulations concerning registration, verification, and determination of political parties in The 2019 election, except for the decision of the Constitutional Court Number 55/PUU-XVIII/2020 which regulates three categories of political parties verified by the General Elections Commission.

"The things that are here (the General Election Commission Regulation) it can be said that there are no significant changes except for three categories of political parties," said Hasyim.

In the conclusion of the Hearing Meeting chaired by the Chairman of Commission II of the House of Representatives Ahmad Doli Kurnia, the input of the General Elections Supervisory Body regarding access to Political Party Information Systems was agreed upon by the members of the People's Representative Council, the General Elections Commission, the Ministry of Home Affairs, and the Election Organizing Honorary Council. This is also in accordance with the provisions of Article 180 of Law Number 17 of 2017 concerning Elections.

The photos and news are from my friends at the Public Relations of the General Elections Supervisory Agency