TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Calls for the House of Representatives or DPR to use its right of inquiry are becoming more focused. It seems that the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) is increasingly determined to roll out the right of the DPR to investigate government policies. This time, it is to investigate allegations of electoral fraud during the 2024 general and presidential election. The right of inquiry is now recognized in constitutional law and commonly used as a parliamentary right to investigate executive policies.
PDI-P Chairperson Megawati Sukarnoputri, after a week of solitary contemplation, has given her blessing for her party to push for the use of the right of inquiry. The leaders of other parties are increasingly in agreement to use the right of inquiry through their DPR members in Senayan. The right to inquire is an idea that comes from parties outside the supporters of presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto.
In preliminary vote counts, Prabowo won the presidential election on February 14, 2024. However, his rivals’ party coalitions consider Prabowo’s victory as assisted by President Joko Widodo through social assistance policies and the mobilization of state apparatus. Jokowi is the father of Gibran Rakabuming Raka, Prabowo’s running mate.
Gibran’s entry into the presidential election is also the reason why the parties are proposing the use of the right of inquiry. Gibran only met the conditions for becoming a vice-presidential candidate after the Constitutional Court changed the age requirement to 40 or having been elected in a general election. Gibran is currently the Mayor of Solo, the position formerly held by his father.
The Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court at the time was Anwar Usman, Jokowi’s brother-in-law, as he married Idayati, Jokowi's sister, on May 26, 2022. According to the Constitutional Court’s Ethics Council, this conflict of interest damaged the independence of the constitutional justices. Last October, the Ethics Council found Anwar guilty of an ethical violation and dismissed him from his position as Constitutional Court Chief Justice.
The Election Organization Ethics Council also imposed ethical sanctions on General Election Commission (KPU) Chair Hasyim Asy’ari for accepting the nomination of Gibran despite the Constitutional Court’s Ethics Council ruling. All of this, and the evidence of the mobilization of state apparatus in the regions directing support to Prabowo-Gibran, is enough for party elites to propose the right of inquiry.
The right of inquiry can be used if it is proposed by at least 25 DPR members from more than one faction. With 314 seats in the DPR, the number of supporters of the inquiry is much larger than the members of parties supporting Prabowo. So, if there is a vote, supporters of the inquiry could impose sanctions on the KPU and Jokowi’s administration as organizers of the election. As long as they stay united.
This unity is now being tested. Party elites are being tempted with offers of ministerial positions in both Jokowi and Prabowo-Gibran’s cabinets. There are also legal maneuvers. A legislative candidate from the Indonesian Solidarity Party (PSI), which is led by Gibran’s younger brother, has reported PDI-P presidential candidate Ganjar Pranowo for allegedly accepting Rp100 billion from Bank Jateng.
We discuss all the maneuvers of the right to inquire, persuasion, and operations to thwart it in this week’s edition. Who will prevail? Happy reading.
Bagja Hidayat
Deputy Chief Editor
The Driving Force of the Right of Inquiry in the House to Investigate into the 2024 Election Fraud
Megawati and Jusuf Kalla are the driving force behind the use of the right of inquiry in the House to investigate electoral fraud. The coalitions of the Anies-Muhaimin and Ganjar-Mahfud presidential tickets are not solid.
Gathering Support to Investigate Election Fraud
Various instances of electoral fraud in the 2024 General Elections meet the conditions for the DPR to use its right of inquiry. PSI’s surge in votes is in the spotlight.
A Cabinet Post Offer to Prevent the Inquiry Right into Election Fraud
The PPP and NasDem have not expressed strong support for using the DPR’s right of inquiry to investigate alleged electoral fraud in the 2024 elections. The Prabowo-Gibran camp is offering cabinet positions.
Economy
Finding the Budget for Free Lunch Program
Several ministries start to design the free lunch program worth hundreds of trillions of rupiah.
Interview
We Are Solid behind the Right of Inquiry bid
PDI-P Secretary-General Hasto Kristiyanto explains the right of inquiry into alleged electoral fraud in the 2024 General Elections and PDI-P’s chance to become the opposition party.
