The Jakarta Post     ,      Jakarta       |  Fri, 08/21/2009 10:13 AM  |  National

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and the House of Representatives have the power to dismiss members of the General Elections Commission (KPU) for their incompetence, an expert says.

Refly Harun, from the Center for Electoral Reform (Cetro), said Thursday that whether or not they would ever choose to go down that path was debatable.

“There is no direct mechanism under the 2007 on the General Elections Commission that states the President or the House can fire KPU members for incompetence. However, that could be resolved if the House decided to issue a ‘limited revision’ of the law,” he told The Jakarta Post.

“For example, the revision could stipulate that the current KPU members term will end on April 10. That way the KPU members will have to be replaced with new ones.”

Refly added that a government regulation-in-lieu of law issued to replace the general elections law could also be used to remove KPU members from their seats.

“However, the President must then discuss the regulation with the House,” he said.

“It really comes down to whether the President and the House agree to fire [KPU] members.”

Refly said the current law already contained stipulations about firing KPU members.

“However, a honorary board needs to be established first, and that can only take place through a KPU plenary meeting. So, it’s a little difficult,” he said.

Ida Fauziah, the deputy chair of the Houses’ Commission II, which oversees the KPU, said there was no mechanism to fire any KPU member unless they had committed a crime.

“Neither the President nor the House has the authority to fire KPU members because it is an independent body.”

The KPU has been under fire from civil society groups, experts and political parties due to its mismanagement of the legislative and presidential elections, which led to countless court cases and violations.

Following the April 9 legislative elections, several political parties alleged nearly 40 million eligible voters were unable to cast their ballot due to problems with the registered electoral roll.

The problems with the electoral roll were not resolved and re-emerged in the July 8 presidential election.

PDI-P legislator Eva Kusuma Sundari alleged at the time that the KPU had failed to amend the electoral roll, with nearly 50 million eligible voters remaining unregistered. As a result, the Constitutional Court ruled that voters could use their ID cards to verify their identity on voting day. 

The KPU announcement that Yudhoyono had won in a landslide led to his rivals questioning the legitimacy of the election. While the court dismissed their challenges, it did state that the KPU was incompetent and failed to carry out its duties satisfactorily.

Despite the pressure, KPU chief Abdul Hafiz Anshary has said he feels no obligation to resign and believes the KPU did its best. (hdt)