Notes Related to 2017 Election

According to the authors, there are several problems of 2017 elections which unresolved and can still be found at the provincial, district, and city that will host the fifth annual celebration of democracy. The most crucial problemsand needs to be addressed, among others, the continuing problems of the budget; the invalidity of DPT; Election disputes; as well as security issues. The problemsneed to get the direction or order of the President as the Head of State tothe stakeholders of 2017 elections to be resolved, so that the elections in 2017 can be democratic and full of integrity.

Similarly, according to records of The Supervisory Board of Elections, there are some problems or notes in preparation for the elections in 2017 that the narrowness of the participant access the elections, the political problems of money, potential conflicts and security issues, the political awareness of the turnout and the feasibility of local leaders by optimizing the role of election monitoring, civil community and media.
 
Then in terms of participation evaluation of the elections, some experts say, among others supervision should be strengthened, but weakened the monitoring; participation enlarged, but independence was reduced; many court, but the lack of judgment. There are some records that the forthcoming elections into attention, including the holding of elections as a facilitator of convention policy interests; the need for support from government towards strengthening civil society organizations; disclosure of information and service providers and key participation.

According to the search results of one institution election observers, apparently since 1999, acknowledged or not, we lost the data related to the local elections or the general elections, so there should be consolidation of data, and how the Commission could be the data center of the elections, so that the next data can be equipped than the year previous.

Supposedly, the year 2016 is an important phase of evaluation of data simultaneously. This is a reference for the Commission; the implementation of the second stage of elections in 2017 in 101 regions started 7 provinces, 76 districts and 18 cities. Even the Commission conducts a judicial review against Article 9 point A Law No. 10 of 2016. The strong tug made a protracted discussion include the resignation of members of the legislature, the military police, the requirement for nominating individuals and verification mechanisms of individual candidates.
 
Nomination method which increasesthe strength of managementcentralized of the party and party dominance DPP Article 42 of Law No. 10 of 2016. In terms of the DPT Electoral Management as a base and the application of electronic ID cards as the basic document updates, and there are still some areas that leave WN who have the right to vote, but haven't get the electronic ID card yet.

Therefore, the Commission must act decisively, on top of existing constitutional law, a commitment to the protection of citizens' right, professionalism, and integrity of the organizers, openness and accountability of law enforcement priority.

Meanwhile, the characteristics of the 2017 elections are a challenge for us, among others: first, centralized capital, so the regional capital of oblivion. Second, the pure pursuit of power and get rid of regeneration. Third, personally fought and lost consolidated massively. Fourth, the political power spread. Fifth, the consolidation of voter education will become citizens' awareness of civil rights and political rights through participation in the monitoring of elections.

Facingthe characteristics of elections in 2017, the organizing institutions still have challenges in many electoral currently in various countries is money politics or politics of money, which The Supervisory Board of Elections still face the difficulty of how to proving in a structured, massive and systematic, every general election and the local elections, there are always violation and fraud, this is still not understood by many parties in the spotlight to the organizers relating to the recruitment.
 KIPP position as an institution and civil society election observers in Indonesia, referring to the principleeffectiveness of independent monitoring, non-partisan, non-partial and non-violence also remains questionable.

Impact

All stakeholders should be aware of the 2017 elections, the unresolved electionsissues will cause some impacts, such as the lackassociated of professional election management that will make an impact include: First, hinder the implementation phase of the elections as a result of the slow resolution. Second, the performance of the institution organizing the elections less than optimal, so it tends to ignore the norms or rules in carrying out their duties. Third, decreasing the levels of public trust to the election stakeholders. Fourth, the quality of elections is questionable. Fifth, the appearance of abuse of power from the Elections stakeholders to one of candidates. Sixth, the legal challenge to the organizers of the elections; as well as the mass action and political pressure on the organizers of the elections. Seventh, the emergences of political uncertainty or the post-election political issues. Simultaneously, poses "an extreme impact", which is delayed even outright failure of elections in 2017.

According to the authors, the rise of issues related to the Election Day in 2017 also require "intervention" or the involvement of the President for the settlement like President should instruct the Finance Ministry to immediately release funds of Elections in 2017 and ruled the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the BPK to supervise its implementation; The President needs to ordered the Ministry of Internal Affairs through the Directorate General Population and Civil Registration of Ministry of Internal Affairs to prioritize the recording of e-ID in the areas that will hold elections in 2017; The President needs to hold a meeting with the leadership of the House of Representatives, Supreme Court, and the Constitutional Court to discussthe settlement of disputes elections and last but not least the President should instruct the Legal and Security Affairs, the Army Commander, Chief of Police for additional strength in the trouble spot, especially in Aceh, Papua and West Papua during the election day.

Hopefully the elections in 2017 that we agreed together to be held on February 15th, 2017 can run peacefully, safely, smoothly, honesty and full of integrity, resulting in a nationalist local leaders and can carry out the mandate of their people.

*) The author is the Observer of Indonesia strategic issues. Founder of Social Community Observer Forum, Riau, Pekanbaru.