Civil State Aparatus and

Neutrality in General Elections

Marinus Padjaru Djowa, Law Faculty, Christian University of Wira Wacana, Sumba

Indonesia has just finished one part of series in democracy party in the entire territory of Indonesia on April 17, 2019. People flocked to vote the candidates from president (executive) to members of representatives (legislative). The democracy party that has been carried out, have many interesting stories and certainly catch attention of public. One of them is the issue the neutrality of State Civil Apparatus in elections.

The Indonesian state law No. 7 of 2017, concerning on general elections, article 282 and 283 verse 1, clearly regulated the neutrality of the state cilvil aparatus in elections and those who violate can be subjected to criminal sanctions. Recently, we were surprised by the dismissal of 6 state civil aparatus in Tangerang, Banten, after they were known to pose two fingers in favor of one of presidential candidates. Tribunnews.com, online news on March 2, 2019 had interviewed the head of Tangerang regional personnel agency (BKD), Komarudin. He said, "Those six are also called violating the rules because of using attributes such as uniforms and logo of Banten Province on their arms. The dismissal of the six teachers is in accordance with the regulations, where one of them should not campaign at educational institutions including schools. There are many other stories that prove the non-neutrality of state civil aparatus in our democratic party. (http://www.tribunnews.com/nasional/2019/03/22/6-guru-di-tangerang-dipecat-karena-foto-pose-2-jari-sambil-pegang-stiker-prabowo-sandi).

Responding to the non-neutrality of state civil aparatus in the election, the writer felt disappointed. When they became state civil aparatus they have bound themselves to regulation as condition and obligation that should be carried out based on the principle of justice to serve the state and society. Their tasks as designers, supervisors, implementers, and organizers of public duties must be free from political intervention and free from corruption, collusion and nepotism (KKN) practices, especially their salaries are using public budget, so they must be truly pro-people. Non-neutrality of state civil aparatus will be contra-productive for the community.

Finally, the writer came to the conclusion of the idea of this writing, the writer saw the need for strict action on the non-neutral state civil aparatus. The regulations made by the government regarding to civil state aparatus’ neutrality in election is good initiative, however, only the implementation is still challenging. The government should act decisively and fair. Not just being brave to those with low rank, and avoiding the stigma of law that’s blunt upward and sharp downward.

Let us maintain the democratic atmosphere in Indonesia by complying with applicable laws in order to implement a strong and great Indonesia. ***