ANDI NURPATI URGED TO RESIGN FROM ELECTION BODY

By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, June 24 (ANTARA) - The Election Supervisory Board (Bawaslu) has called for the discharge of General Election Commission (KPU) member Andi Nurpati under pressure from  legislators, the home affairs minister and the public after she was named an associate chair in the ruling Democrat Party (PD).          In its written statement on Tuesday, Bawaslu said it had asked the KPU as an independent commission to set up an Ethics  Council (DK) to call Andi Nurpati to account and formalize her dishonorable discharge from the KPU   for joining a political party.          Chairman of House Commission II for home affairs Chairman Harahap said that Nurpati who was named head  of the Democrat Party's department of public communication affairs for 2010 - 2015 was no longer fit to remain a KPU member and thus she should resign soon.           Harahap who is also a Golkar Party politician said that as a KPU member, Nurpati should maintain independent thoughts, steps and decisions but in reality she had  suddenly accepted the position of  associate chairperson in  the Democrat Party.          "Andi Nurpati has breached her oath and degraded her competence as a KPU member. KPU should issue a recommendation soon for her dishonorable dismissal from KPU," former House of Representatives (DPR) member of the Golkar Party Ferry Mursidan Baldan, said.          He said that Nurpati's step to join a political party would affect the election commission as an institution and would worsen the declining public trust in KPU as a neutral body in organizing elections in the country. Moreover, Regional Elections Commission (KPUD)s in some provinces in the country were now organizing regional head elections. This would worsen the public trust in the KPUDs.          "Nurpati should resign soon because otherwise it means that she is holding two  posts concurrently," Baldan who is also a former House Commission II chairman said.          Law No. 22 / 2007 on General Elections stipulates that KPU members are not allowed to hold other  posts. They even are not allowed to be named a minister.          Therefore, Home Affairs Minister Gamawan Fauzi said that Nurpati should resign from the KPU in order to maintain the independence of the election body.          "She has to resign so that (the KPU) will remain a good and just jury," the home affair minister.          He said that when the recruitment of KPU members for the 2009 general elections was done it was agreed that KPU members might not affiliate to a political party in an effort to maintain the independence of KPU. The independence spirit must be preserved and Nurpati should resign.          He said that although there was no specific regulation on the banning of a KPU member to be involved in practical politics, yet in view of morality Nurpati should resign as soon as she joined a political party.          "Otherwise, it would serve as a bad precedence. All KPU members could follow suit," Minister Gamawan Fauzi said.         In this respect, the Bawaslu has recommended that KPU set up an Honorary Council to process and dismiss Nurpati dishonorly. It said that Nurpati had violated Article 11, paragraph b and Article 13 of the KPU Regulation No. 31 / 2008 on the General Election Codes of Ethics. She has also breached her oath as a KPU member as regulated in Article 28, paragraph 2, Law No. 22 / 2007 on the Implementation of General Elections.          Bawaslu chairman Nur Hidayat Sardini said Nurpati was suspected to have taken sides with a political party. She was believed to have given priority to her own or group interests rather than to the interest of the state based on her oath when she was installed as a KPU member.          So, Bawaslu recommended that she be discharged dishonorably.          In the meantime, Andi Nurpati responded to the Bawaslu recommendation, saying it was odd. She said the recommendation was dated June 17, 2010 while she was asked to provide clarifications on June 18, 2010. One day later, the Bawaslu issued a letter about supportive evidence for its recommendation on the formation of the Ethics Council.          "In my opinion, the Bawaslu's letter had been prepared before I was asked to make a clarifications. The Bawaslu had made a decision even before I made a clarification," she said at her office in the KPU building.          She said that the Bawaslu recommendation should be issued after all clarification processes had been completed. Therefore, Nurpati said she believed there were external influences that led the Bawaslu to issue the recommendation.           Nurpati said that the last point of the Bawalu letter mentioned Bawaslu's expectation that the Ethics Council  be set up in a not-too-distant future  because it constituted a follow-up to a political decision made ar a hearing with the House Commission II.           "I think there is no regulation which requires the KPU or Bawaslu to follow up a political decision. The conclusion of a Commission II hearing is only a reference," Nurpati said.          However, Nurpati said she respected the Bawaslu's decision even if she found something odd in the Bawalu's letter of recommendation.          "I will take the opportunity to make clarifications if the KPU sets up an Ethics Council," she said.      (T.A014/A/HAJM/13:00/f001) 23-06-2010 13:05: