By: Silvia A. Pamungkas )*
The government of course always strives to create safe, peaceful and cool elections in the political year. The government encourages all parties to campaign in smart ways when offering productive ideas for Indonesia’s progress. One of them is a neutral attitude that needs to be upheld by all parties, such as the State Civil Apparatus (ASN).
Neutrality is one of the principles that regulates the implementation of ASN policies and management. The neutrality of ASN is something that needs to continue to be maintained and monitored, so that elections can run honestly and fairly between candidates who have power and candidates who do not have power relations within the government bureaucracy.
In relation to regulating the neutrality of ASN in elections/pilkada, the legal regulations that regulate are very diverse, not only legal products relating to elections/pilkada, but legal products that specifically regulate ASN issued by ministerial institutions. Bawaslu as one of the election/pilkada organizing institutions which has the function of preventing and enforcing the law has the authority to follow up on its findings regarding violations of ASN neutrality whose offenses are regulated in statutory regulations outside of elections/elections (other laws).
Basically, neutrality is not regulated to shackle the freedom of ASN in realizing their political aspirations. ASN are required to carry out their mandate as state servants who work solely for the welfare of the people, not for the interests of a particular group or political party. Neutrality needs to be possessed by every ASN as a public servant.
The Indonesian Minister of Religion, Gus Yaqut, stated that ASN at the Indonesian Ministry of Religion should continue to work as usual and continue to provide the best service to the community. The Ministry of Religion must not be involved in practical politics, let alone lead to things that could trigger conflict. Gus Yakut doesn’t want ASN to get into trouble because of the political year.
Gus Yaqut further emphasized that he did not want a bad record for the Ministry of Religion’s ASN, because this would be a record that could hinder his future. Therefore, ASN Ministry of Religion must maintain unity in providing religious services without discriminating against origin, religion, culture, ethnicity and mass organizations.
Chairman (Election Supervisory Body) Bawaslu, Republic of Indonesia, Rahmat Bagja, really welcomed the direction from the Minister of Religion of the Republic of Indonesia to all his staff. Bagja asked ASN at the Ministry of Religion to be careful when taking photos together with prospective candidates or candidate pairs and political parties participating in the 2024 simultaneous elections. Because, if they follow certain hand movements that can be associated with election participants, they will be subject to sanctions.
Bagja reminded again that when taking group photos there are usually certain hand movements related to the serial numbers of election participants. This could be related to the neutrality of ASN, he explained. At the end of his speech, he stated that there were various violations committed by ASN, such as social media outreach campaigns, holding activities or declarations that lead to bias towards one of the candidates or prospective candidates, and approaching political parties regarding their candidacy.
The Acting Governor of DKI Jakarta, Heru Budi Hartono, reminded ASN not to take sides with anyone competing in the election. There are four points that are emphasized to ASN, especially in DKI Jakarta. First, ASN needs to maintain and uphold the principle of neutrality of ASN employees in carrying out public service functions, both before, during and after the 2024 General Election and Election. Second, avoid conflicts of interest, do not carry out practices of intimidation and threats to the public, and do not favor a particular pair of candidates.
Third, use social media wisely and not spread hate speech and fake news. One of them is related to the prohibition on uploading, liking , sharing , and even commenting on the uploads of one of the candidates participating in the 2024 Election. The last one is that ASN must reject money politics and all kinds of gifts in any form.
Apart from that, the Acting Regent of Lamandau, Lilis Suriani emphasized the importance of ASN’s neutrality in the 2024 Regional Elections and Pilkada. According to him, ASN has an important role in the Election because it is related to public service. Lilis explained that ASN must be neutral in ensuring that candidates and political parties have equal opportunities, prevent unfair intervention, and maintain equal elections for all participants. This is also necessary to maintain public trust in order to prevent speculation that the election was influenced by certain parties.
The neutrality of ASN is a symbol of fair service delivery in order to ensure that public services are not influenced by political considerations and ensure that government policies remain focused on the public interest. ASN neutrality is support for democratic principles by ensuring the implementation of fair elections, facilitating public participation in voting freely, in accordance with the principles of healthy democracy.
For this reason, it is necessary to evaluate the implementation of the 2019 elections, so that they can be improved and perfected in 2024, thereby creating peaceful and prosperous elections.
)* The author is from the editorial team of Saptalika Jr. Media
