On February 17, 2016, The current term of office of members or commissioners of the Ombudsman of the Republic of Indonesia will end. Based on Law Number 37 of 2008 concerning the Ombudsman of the Republic of Indonesia, members of the Indonesian Ombudsman will be selected through ten stages with a total time of 189 working days. On July 27 2015, the President formed a selection committee for prospective members of the Indonesian Ombudsman consisting of seven members. Given the pressing time, the selection committee moved quickly by opening registration which opened on August 6 and closed on August 27 2015. The opening of this registration period has been announced at www.setneg.go.id and national general dailies.

Unfortunately, as of August 25 2015 the number of new registrants was 77 people. The number of registrants is still too small compared to the KPK selection process which succeeded in recruiting 611 registrants. In fact, the KPK Pansel only had to submit 10 names to the President, while the ORI Pansel had to submit a larger number, namely 18 names.

Although quantity does not always reflect quality, the lack of applicants will limit the selection committee’s choices for prospective members of the Indonesian Ombudsman to find candidates who are qualified and have integrity. The coalition assesses that the low number of applicants is caused by three main things, namely the lack of socialization carried out by the selection committee, the general public not yet recognizing the Indonesian Ombudsman, and the confusion of information regarding the selection of prospective members of the Indonesian Ombudsman with the selection of assistants to the Indonesian Ombudsman for representative offices.

Apart from the registration process, the selection committee also needs to formulate the subsequent selection stages well so that it is able to select candidates with a high level of capacity and integrity. Each subsequent selection stage must also be open to public participation and carried out with high standards of integrity.

Based on the above, the Society Concerned with Public Services (MP3) recommends:

1. extend the registration time up to 15 days from the previously determined time,
2. carry out more massive outreach, including “picking up the ball” for potential candidates,
3. carry out outreach by involving various parties and utilizing various instruments owned by the state such as SMS Blast belonging to the Ministry of Communication and Information, the Indonesian Ombudsman website, and other media,
4. The selection committee must prioritize aspects of transparency and public accountability in every stage of selection of prospective members,
5. The selection committee must be transparent and have a clear mechanism for making decisions at each stage of the selection process,
6. in determining the candidate’s graduation process, the selection committee, apart from considering the competency aspect, must pay attention to the candidate’s track record and the candidate’s integrity, and
7. open each stage of selection and create a mechanism that provides access to the public to find out the progress of each stage of selection and participate directly, especially for the need to assess candidates’ track records.

By:
Communities Concerned with Public Services (MP3)
YAPPIKA, ICW, IPC, PSHK, YLKI, PATTIRO, Indonesian Women’s Coalition, IBC, Seknas FITRA, LBH Jakarta, Migrant Care, FITRA North Sumatra, IDEA Yogyakarta, KOPEL Indonesia, TIFA Damai Maluku, LSBH NTB, PIAR NTT, SOMASI NTB, PATTIRO Semarang, PERTUNI, TI-Indonesia, PERLUDEM, PATTIRO Surakarta, JPPR, YSKK Solo, FITRA Sumsel, FIK NGO Sulsel, KP2KKN Jateng, KEMITRAAN, Gemawan Kalbar, Swandiri Institute, WCC Palembang, PATTIRO Banten, Sekolah Rakyat Kendal, MCW, KID.