The Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Association for Elections and Democracy (Perludem), Titi Anggraini, warned that there was a threat of irregularities by the person in charge of educational facilities. Threats of deviation may be more likely in private educational institutions under the auspices of certain political parties. The Constitutional Court's ruling that allows campaigns in educational institutions must include a General Election Commission (KPU) regulation that still guarantees the neutrality of educational institutions.
"The most dangerous thing is politicization and intimidation in dark spaces. A teacher to students, a foundation owner to teachers If the permission for the use of the place is written, it must be copied to the KPU, to the Bawaslu, and to the security forces because that is the procedure in the KPU campaign regulations," said Titi in Jakarta (24/8).
For this reason, according to Titi, three important campaign principles apply to campaigns that use government and educational facilities. These three include balance, fair treatment, and equal opportunity.
"These three principles must be operationalized. Therefore, when the KPU revises the KPU regulations regarding this campaign, it must first coordinate with the Ministry of Education and Culture. The second is the manager of state facilities, government facilities, whether it's the State Secretariat, from the regional government, how is the coordination and so on," explained Titi.
According to Titi, teachers' confederations or associations also need to be involved in operationalizing campaigns in educational facilities. In the United States, for example, it involves Associate Council Education, which regulates what activities political actors can carry out on campus. This is because political actors can be present outside the campaign period.
Titi further said, what needs to be straightened out is the granting of campaign permits to government and educational facilities instead of a free market for campaigning. Campaigns in these two locations must have permission from the person in charge of the place and no attributes.
"The matter of this permit is actually also an administrative order that is translated by the KPU. That does not mean that it can be arbitrary to issue permits to invite this or invite that; yes, there are also procedures that need to be detailed," he said.
For information, the Constitutional Court allows election participants to campaign in government and educational facilities. The decision is the result of a review of Law Number 7 of 2017 concerning elections, questioning the elucidation of Article 280 paragraph (1) letter h regarding the ban on campaigns using government facilities, places of worship, and places of education. The Constitutional Court Decision Number 65/PUU-XXI/2023 on August 15 further reads, "using government facilities, places of worship, and places of education, except for government facilities and educational places as long as they get permission from the person in charge of the said place and are present without any election campaign attributes." ". []
NUR AZIZAH
