165 Former Corruption Convicts Register to Become Representatives

Registration for legislative candidates (caleg) took place from July 4-17, 2018, and many former convicts of corruption cases submitted their documents to the General Election Commission (KPU). Previously, the KPU officially prohibited former corruption convicts from registering as elected officials, both for the Kabupaten/Kota DPR and Provincial DPRD in the 2019 elections. This prohibition is stipulated in KPU Regulation (PKPU) No. 20 of 2018 concerning the nomination of DPR members, which was enacted on June 30, 2018.

However, this regulation has sparked pro and contra reactions in society. Those who oppose the regulation argue that based on the Constitutional Court Decision No. 42/PUU-XIII/2015, former corruptors are allowed to become legislative candidates. Someone who has served their sentence and been released from prison or correctional facilities is essentially someone who has repented or shown remorse.

Meanwhile, those who agree with the PKPU consider that convicts of corruption cases can be categorized as extraordinary crimes, like narcotics crimes and sexual crimes against children. Until the closing of registration for DPR members, there were 165 former corrupt convict legislative candidates who ran again in the 2019 legislative election. Of the 16 participating parties in next year's General Election (Pemilu), almost all have cadres/legislative candidates who are former corruption convicts, as shown in the graph below.