Regional Elections Remain in November, Minister of Home Affairs: There is Talk of an Inauguration Not Far from the Presidential Inauguration

Minister of Home Affairs Tito Karnavian emphasized that currently the regional election schedule is still November 27 2024.

KOMPAS/DIAN DEWI PURNAMASARI

Interior Minister Tito Karnavian (third from the left) provided a statement to the media following the inauguration of nine acting governors at the Suasana Bhakti Praja Building, Ministry of Home Affairs, on Tuesday (5/9/2023).

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — Minister of Home Affairs Tito Karnavian emphasized that the schedule for holding the 2024 simultaneous regional elections will most likely not change the date, namely remaining on November 27 2024. However, Tito mentioned the discourse to speed up with the reason that the inauguration of the elected regional head is not too far from the inauguration of the elected president and vice president on October 20, it is still open.

"I emphasize that the date for the regional elections has not changed, namely November 27 2024. However, there are some opinions about discussing just one issue, namely the simultaneous inauguration. "But, I don't think it has much influence because the important thing is that D-Day is very important and we have agreed on November 27," said Tito when met at the General Election Commission Building, Thursday (2 /5/2024).

Even though the regional election schedule remains November 27 2024, according to the former National Police Chief, there is talk of speeding up its implementation. The consideration is that the inauguration of the elected regional head is not far from the inauguration of the elected president and vice president which is scheduled for October 20 2024.

Also read: Perppu to be issued soon, 2024 regional elections move forward to September from November 2024

If the regional elections are still held on November 27, he said that if there is a dispute over the results, the inauguration could be delayed for two to three months. This means that it will only be in January to February 2025 when the newly elected regional heads will be inaugurated. Therefore, there is a considerable gap with the inauguration of the president and vice president.

I emphasize that the regional elections date will not change, it will be on November 27, 2024. However, there are some opinions discussing only one issue, which is the alignment of the inauguration. But I think it doesn't have much influence because what is important is the D-day and we have agreed on November 27. (Tito Karnavian)

"However, the philosophy of simultaneous regional elections is to create harmonization and synchronization of central, provincial, district, and city programs for five years," said Tito.

With that argument, he said, there was once a discourse to move the regional elections to September. Because if the elections were held in September, the disputes over the election results would be resolved by December. As a result, in January, most new regional heads could already be inaugurated. This means that the inauguration of regional heads is not too far from the inauguration of the elected president.

However, after considering the existing dynamics, we still adhere to the original concept, which is November 27th. I don't think there are any plans to revise the Law No. 10 of 2016 concerning Regional Elections yet. There have been no changes to the date as well.

"However, after observing the current dynamics, we still stick to the initial concept, which is November 27. I don't think there's a plan for revising the (Law No. 10 of 2016 regarding Regional Elections) yet. There has been no change in the date as well," he said.

Can be finished quickly

Tito explained that in the 2014 Presidential Election, three years later in 2017, there were regional head elections in 101 areas. Governors, regents, and mayors finally brought their own visions and missions. Then, in 2018, there were also simultaneous regional head elections in 171 areas, where elected regional heads also brought their own visions and missions. According to him, from that experience, there was confusion between the central government and regional autonomy in local governments.

Political promises that differ from the national or central programs have their own consequences. That is what inspired the lawmakers, namely the DPR and the government, to carry out simultaneous regional elections in 2024 so that the implementation of the presidential and regional head elections would also be synchronized.

We have agreed that the time is quite tight, with the presidential and parliamentary elections. Moreover, there may be lawsuits that will affect the determination of the seats as the basis for the results of the 2024 Legislative Elections.

"But we have agreed that the timing is quite tight, with the presidential and legislative elections coming up. Moreover, there may be legal challenges that will determine the allocation of seats as the basis for the results of the 2024 Legislative Election," he said.

He also hopes that the process in the Constitutional Court can be quickly completed for all regions. Thus, all regions can know the number of seats, the number of votes that become the basis for 20 percent of seats and 25 percent of voter support, which can be the basis for supporting candidate pairs in the 2024 Regional Elections.

KOMPAS/NINA SUSILO

The regents and mayors are preparing for a coordination meeting of the Regional Leadership Communication Forum (Forkopimda) in Sentul, Bogor Regency on Tuesday (17/1/2023).

Previously it was reported that the discourse on improving the political system emerged when the Chairman of Commission II of the DPR Ahmad Doli Kurnia Tandjung visited Minister of State Secretary Pratikno at the State Secretariat Office, Jakarta, Thursday (25/4/2024) .

In that meeting, both of them discussed the improvement of the political system through the revision of several laws. At that time, Doli revealed that the improvement ideally should be done in the first few months of the new government.

Everyone already has the same spirit, there needs to be an improvement in our election system. Even the members of Commission II say that there needs to be an improvement in our political system, because later we will discuss revisions or improvements to the Political Party Law, the Regional Government Law, the Law on Regional Legislative Councils, and so on.

"Everyone already has the same spirit, there needs to be an improvement in our electoral system. Even, my colleagues in the Second Commission have stated that there needs to be an improvement in our political system because later on we will be discussing the revision or improvement of the Political Party Law, Regional Government Law, Regional Legislative Council Law, and so on," said Doli (Kompas.id, 25/4/2024).

Must be careful

Political experts from researchers and lecturers at universities questioned the emergence of discourse on perfecting the political system through revising several laws. It is feared that behind the discourse lies hidden interests to secure the 2024 Regional Head Elections next November.

If I look at the larger context, the pattern of regulation and democracy hijacking in Indonesia is done in three ways, namely through formal or procedural legality by creating rules that benefit the elites, bypassing existing ways, or changing the rules for pragmatic interests of the elites.

YOUTUBE MIPI

Deputy Executive Director of Puskapol UI Hurriyah

Also read: MK Decides that Regional Elections Not to be Accelerated, Remain in November 2024

The concerns were expressed by the Executive Director of the Center for Political Studies at the University of Indonesia (Puskapol UI), Hurriyah, when contacted from Jakarta on Saturday (27/4/2024). According to her, discourse on the revision of several laws should be wary by the public. She admitted to being worried that behind the revision, there are interests among the elites related to the upcoming regional head elections (pilkada).

"If I look at the bigger context, the pattern of sabotaging regulations and democracy in Indonesia is carried out through three ways, namely legal formality or procedural by creating rules that benefit the elites, manipulating existing ways, or changing the rules for pragmatic interests of the elites," said Hurriyah.