Indonesian National Police’s (Polri) professionalism regarding elections is identified by the public with the neutrality of the police in realizing democratic elections. Polri's professionalism in the political year ahead of the simultaneous elections in 2019 is still considered not optimal by some circles, when viewed from the institution's neutrality attitude and behavior in dealing with several issues in relation to political contestation in the political years, especially before the simultaneous elections in 2019 or in some time in the socio-political life of the community. These issues involve the context of the election which involves the existence of different groups of support and can cause ongoing conflict if not handled properly, fairly and impartially by the police. By using a qualitative approach through literature studies, this paper identifies problems that arise in the context of national neutrality in relation to elections, explains the neutrality arguments of the police in elections, and analyzes the importance of national neutrality in realizing democratic elections in accordance with the prevailing laws and regulations. The results of the study show the importance of the neutrality of the National Police in realizing democratic simultaneous elections, by carrying out the 13 attitudes of national neutrality in the elections, which serve as guidelines for the police as an institution and the police (its members) in contributing to the successful, direct, free, secretive and honest and fair administration of elections.
The authors are affiliated to the Department of Political Science, Universitas Padjadjaran, Bandung, Indonesia.
Email: ratnia@unpad.ac.id