photo : kpu klaten

One of the crucial problems during the regional election that will be simultaneously held in 270 regions on December 9 2020 is not only about people’s participation but also keeping the neutrality of the state civil apparatus. The state civil apparatus’ neutrality is regulated in Law no. 5 year 2014. Article 70 verse 1 of the Law says that state civil apparatus involved in candidates’ campaign can be charged 6-month imprisonment. Based on data from the State Civilian Bureaucracy Commission until August 2020, there were 499 reports on suspected neutrality violations. Then after further investigation, 389 state civil apparatus were proven guilty. 

The neutrality violations done by them included giving support for prospective candidates on social media or mass media, introducing prospective candidates through campaign equipment, attending activities that benefit the candidates, declaring themselves as prospective candidates, inviting or intimidating people to support a candidate. State civil apparatus’ neutrality is important to avoid division and conflict of interest, as well as to guarantee the bureaucracy as the keeper of unity in the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia. Therefore, neutrality must be kept and monitored so that the regional election can be fair and honest between candidates who have power and those who do not possess power relations in a government bureaucracy environment.

Therefore, to keep the state civil apparatus neutral, Ministry of Administrative and Bureaucratic Reform along with Ministry of Home Affairs, National Civil Service Agency, State Civilian Bureaucracy Commission, and Election Supervisory Board had readied Joint Decree on Guidance for Monitoring State Civil Apparatus Neutrality in Simultaneous Regional Election 2020. The Joint Decree signing was done on September 10 20202 at the Administrative and Bureaucratic Reform Ministry Office in Jakarta. The Joint Decree aims to be the guidance for government institutions in keeping the neutrality of state civil apparatus, especially during the Simultaneous Regional Election 2020.

Besides, there must be synergy, effectiveness, and efficiency to be created in monitoring the state civil apparatus’ neutrality and realizing legal certainty towards neutrality violation. It is certainly expected that the violation of state civil apparatus neutrality will not happen again or at least is kept at minimum level with the synergic monitoring.