Jacket reads ‘Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) Prisoner’

The General Elections Commission’s (KPU) plan to ban ex-corruption, drugs and sexual assault convicts from running in regional and legislative elections is facing stiff opposition, not just from the House of Representatives (DPR) – consistently rated as one of the most corrupt institutions in the country – but also from the government and President Joko Widodo’s own party.

At a recent hearing to discuss the plan with representatives of the various DPR political party factions, the Home Affairs Ministry and the Election Supervisory Board, every one of those present, except for the KPU, opposed the ban with lawmakers accusing the KPU of violating ex-convicts ‘political rights’ and Law and Human Rights Minister Yasonna Laoly (from Widodo’s ruling Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle) asserting that the ban was discriminatory and against the law.