The non-neutrality of civil service remains an endless issue of discussion, especially during election periods. It is crucial to find a resolution by examining the causes and effects in each case. This was also a concern at Bawaslu (The Election Supervisory Body) Coordination Meeting with Regional Heads in Badung Regency, Bali (9/27/2022).
“From the evaluation results of the data and documents handling violations of civil service neutrality in the previous election, the Election Supervisory Body revealed six causes of violations of civil service neutrality,” said a member of the Republic of Indonesia Bawaslu, Puadi.
The six causes of civil service non-neutrality are, first, its relation to a bureaucratic mentality that is far from the spirit of Reformation. Second, the partisan political interests of civil service who have a wedge of kinship or ethnicity with the candidate. Third, the election is used as a means of trading for promotions. Fourth, there is intimidation and pressure from local powerful people who are too dominant for civil service who are in the grip of an unfavorable ecosystem. Fifth, law enforcement is still bureaucratic, involves too many parties and has not fully provided a deterrent effect on perpetrators of violations of civil service neutrality. Sixth, the politicization of the bureaucracy by candidates participating in the election.
Various hypotheses causing civil service non-neutrality in elections were expressed in forums for studies, discussions, disseminations and socialization events as well as from the results of surveys initiated by authorized institutions. First, that civil service has a very promising bargaining value if it is involved in political contestation by election participants because the level of education and knowledge is adequate and even because their competency qualifications have the potential to win the trust of being a team for drafting programs and campaign materials. Second, broad access, spread in all corners to the smallest community. Has a strong influence in the family, group and society, because it is respected and trusted and can be used as a reference for the community in acting. Third, it has a strategic function to move the state, regional and village financial budgets through the preparation of programs and activities. Fourth, as a media to facilitate the implementation of campaigns by utilizing state facilities such as buildings, cars and authorities.
The tangible form of bureaucratic politicization can be observed in a research report conducted by the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI, 2006) on direct local elections (Pilkada) in Malang, Gowa, and Kutai Kartanegara. The findings explain that several factors influence the politicization of the bureaucracy, including the strong influence of charismatic figures (personality) on state civil apparatus, vested interests of state civil apparatus in seeking rapid career mobility, weak institutional socialization, manipulation of regulatory interpretations, strong patron-client relationships, and the role of the shadow bureaucracy.
In 2018, the Study and System Development Division of the Indonesian Civil Service Commission [KASN] launched the results of a survey on the causes of violations of state civil apparatus neutrality. The survey revealed that 43.4% of neutrality violations by state civil apparatus were due to reasons related to obtaining or retaining positions, as well as gaining materials or projects. The dilemma of the situation and fear of hindering their careers were used as excuses for not having any other choice but to compromise their political rights, making them vulnerable to political manipulation.
Another survey by KASN entitled “Potret Netralitas Birokrasi Menyongsong Tahun Politik 2024 [Portraits of Bureaucratic Neutrality towards the 2024 Political Year]" (December 2021), it is known the dominant factors causing violations of civil service neutrality. Among them are brotherly bonds (50.76%) and civil service motives to get a better career (49.72%), especially in the regions of Sulawesi, Nusa Tenggara, Sumatra and Kalimantan.
Several parties were found to have most influenced civil service to violate neutrality. Among them are campaign teams (32%), civil service superiors (28%), and candidate pairs (24%). 62.7% of respondents stated that the position of a regional head as the officials in charge of personnel affairs (Pejabat Pembina Kepegawaian, PPK) made it difficult for civil service to be neutral. The Regional Head as PPK in this case has the authority to determine appointments, transfers and dismissals, as well as developing Civil Service Management.
Therefore, the survey results found that 51.16% of respondents wanted civil service's political rights to be revoked. What is stated scientifically above has become the most relevant answer to why civil service has become an object for unscrupulous politicians or contestants in elections, thus encouraging the emergence of various variants of civil service "actions" that can be qualified as inappropriate or against the law.
Annual Celebration
Just like an annual celebration, violations of civil servant neutrality seem to be a common occurrence during elections. The facts and data on civil servant impartiality during elections indicate a worrying condition, especially as the number of cases tends to increase. According to the data from the Election Supervisory Body (Bawaslu) on a national level, violations of civil servant neutrality found and reported during the 2019 General Elections totaled 894 cases, and it increased during the 2020 Regional Head Elections (Pilkada) to 1398 cases
The motives and qualifications for their actions are relatively the same and they occur repeatedly during elections. Among them are providing support by urging, inviting, and signaling both directly, through group photos and through social/mass media by giving responses in the form of likes, dislikes and comments, and attending campaign activities.
Efforts to bring legal certainty and justice to violations of basic norms, codes of ethics, codes of conduct or civil service discipline are being serious. Everything is done well in the setting of a set of norms of dos and don'ts even on a case-by-case basis. Administrative and criminal sanctions have been imposed but have not provided a deterrent effect, have not built awareness, and are still far from the ideals of the law. The sanctions received are part of a form of loyalist commitment that can be converted as a free ticket in the promotion of ASN positions so that this motive is believed to continue to be repeated at every election momentum.
Alternative Solution
It requires collective attention as a form of collective responsibility of the nation's children to act as election overseers, offering alternative ideas and constructive criticism. This effort is to continuously improve towards better elections and quality public services. Hopefully, there will be consideration to reevaluate the current design of supervising civil servant neutrality that is already in place.
First, for Bawaslu, neutrality of civil service remains a significant challenge in preventing potential vulnerabilities during both the election stages and non-election stages which are believed if there is no mitigation, it will have implications for reducing the quality of the 2024 Election. There is a possibility that the number of civil service violations has the potential to increase in the 2024 Elections. As self-criticism, election supervisors at all levels must continue to be encouraged to innovate to develop a strategy for monitoring the neutrality of civil service and to focus more on a substantive, inclusive, massive and productive approach to prevention or what is called prevention.
Second, standardization or setting performance assessment indicators is essential. Civil service should be positioned as active subjects in the elections. As a part of the government/local government, and at the same time, members of the voting public, civil service must be given the responsibility to actively participate in the electoral process. It is mandatory for civil service to actively engage in public participation activities such as promoting electoral awareness and providing political education to voters, in accordance with the provisions stated in Article 434 paragraph (1) and (2) letter d, as well as Article 448 paragraph (2) letters a and b, and paragraph (3) of Law No. 7 of 2017 on General Elections.
Third, the current authority of regional heads as personnel officials in the region is counterproductive to the career development based on the performance and behavior assessment of civil serice. Regional heads tend to exert political pressure and interests when exercising their authority, taking actions, and making decisions in government bureaucracy. Since the delegation of authority of regional heads as personnel officials is only optional and subject to the President's discretion, it is essential to consider amending Article 53 letters d and e of Law No. 5 of 2014 on State Civil Apparatus. One possible solution is to delegate or transfer the authority as personnel officials and regional authorities to the Secretary of the Regional Government.
Fourth, strengthening the institution of the Indonesia Civil Service Commission and its authority in enforcing violations of basic norms, codes of ethics, codes of conduct and civil service discipline. This starts from the process of receiving reports to their completion. At present, Civil Service Commission's authority is limited to following up on reports of alleged violations of the civil service code of ethics and discipline through review and then forwarding the results in the form of recommendations to personnel officials.
From a legal perspective, the executive power of recommendations is indeed relatively weak. Meanwhile, the intended strengthening refers to the firm and binding executive power of the institution. The decisions made by the Indonesian Civil Service Commission, which include imposing sanctions, should be considered mandatory orders that must be immediately executed by regional personnel officials. With the reinforcement of the institution, the presence of the Indonesian Civil Service Commission is expected to streamline the lengthy process of resolving violations of civil service neutrality. Currently, the examination process for each case from formal and material aspects seems to be repetitive in various authorities. The existence of inspection teams and/or ethical code councils established by regional personnel officials, as regulated in Government Regulation No. 42/2004 and Government Regulation No. 94/2021, should be abolished, and their essential existence should be fully transferred under the authority of the Indonesian Civil Service Commission.
Fifth, strengthen synergy for the effectiveness of civil service neutrality supervision in order to guarantee legal certainty in the process of taking action against violations of the ASN neutrality principle. For this reason, it is important to concretize the existence of synergy between institutions in the Integrated Supervision Task Force both in the context of prevention and prosecution of violations of basic norms, codes of ethics, codes of conduct and discipline of civil service consisting of elements from the Government, Bawaslu and Ombudsman. []
AWALUDDIN AK.
Member/Coordinator of the Violation Handling and Dispute Resolution Division of the South Konawe Election Supervisory Body (Bawaslu)
