Direction of the Simultaneous Regional Elections

The third iteration of the simultaneous regional elections, which was held on June 27 has ended. This year’s elections for regional heads follows the success of the second simultaneous regional elections on Feb. 15, 2017.

KOMPAS/DIDIE SW

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The third iteration of the simultaneous regional elections, which was held on June 27 in 171 autonomous regions (17 provinces, 115 regencies and 39 municipalities), has ended. This year’s elections for regional heads follows the success of the second simultaneous regional elections on Feb. 15, 2017 in 101 autonomous regions (7 provinces, 76 regencies, 18 municipalities), and the inaugural simultaneous regional elections on Dec. 9, 2015 in 269 autonomous regions (9 provinces, 224 regencies, 36 municipalities). However, the steps for structuring our regional elections are not yet over. There is still a long way to go.

The three simultaneous regional elections are a bridge to the simultaneous regional election in November 2024 in 541 autonomous regions (33 provinces, 415 regencies, 93 municipalities). Only in Yogyakarta province are the governor and deputy governor simply determined by the Provincial Legislative Council (DPRD), where Sultan Hamengkubuwono-Pakualam have been entrusted with governing the special region (Law No. 13/2012). In fact, the regional elections will end in 2027.

Before the 2024 simultaneous regional elections, another iteration of the simultaneous regional elections will be held in 2020 across 269 autonomous regions for a four-year term. Complex problems are expected in the 2024 regional elections, which are scheduled very close to the general election in April 2024, only seven weeks apart. Of course this will be troublesome not only for their organizers, General Elections Commission (KPU) and the Election Supervisory Body (Bawaslu), but also for political parties, voters and the government as the facilitator, especially in preparing supporting facilities, including installing the winning regional heads (Kompas, 27/6/2018).

Furthermore, the Constitutional Court, which is in charge of settling electoral disputes, could be overwhelmed with a substantial increase in such cases. It is feared that democratic efficiency expected of the simultaneous elections will not occur. Government costs will remain high because it will hold two elections in the same year. Public apathy in voting will not be resolved because they must return to the polling stations within seven months. Moreover, the political uproar will not diminish, and coordination between central and regional development planning will again fail.

If so, then how should our regional elections be held in the future? Creating quality regional elections cannot be done at once. Therefore, it is necessary to revise the Law on Regional Elections (Law No. 10/2016).

Origins

The government proposed the simultaneous regional elections during deliberations on the General Elections Bill at the House of Representatives (DPR) in 2014. It was based on anxiety over a decade of direct elections (2005-2014) during which regional elections were to be held every three days, because the terms of office for regional heads across the nation would not end on the same date. As a result, the regional elections were expensive, the rate of voter participation tended to fall, and local politics there saw constant dispute.

The House publicly supported and approved the government proposal, especially because it was empirically proven to be very efficient and operating costs were reduced 60 percent when it was implemented in 2012 in Aceh (18 regions, 1 province) and in 2010 in West Sumatra (12 regencies/municipalities, 1 province ).

However, the three editions of the simultaneous regional elections proved costly in practice because the gubernatorial, regental and mayoral elections did not end together. Moreover, the state had to carry new costs like campaign expenses. Efficiency will occur in future nationwide regional elections, and even more so if the regional election funds are no longer sourced from regional budgets (APBDs), which tends to be wasteful, but from the state budget (APBN), for better control. Even the savings will be more significant if the regional head terms were extended by a year from five to six years. The extended term would also be useful in that the regional heads will have more time to take care of the people, and not busy with elections.

If simply for the sake of pursuing an efficient electoral democracy, ease of implementation, comfort of the voters, unity in the pace of development planning, and a relatively long period of political tranquility of about four years, the regional elections in November 2024 should be merged with the legislative and presidential elections in April 2024. This way, Indonesia would have only one election every five years, and most importantly, there will be more time to attend to the people. The general elections would be held simultaneously with the regional elections. This could be called the “7-ballot elections" comprising the presidential, gubernatorial and regental/mayoral elections along with four legislative elections for the House and the regional, provincial and regency/municipal representatives councils (DPD, DPRDs). To facilitate election officials in counting votes and voters in balloting, the polling station (TPS) quota could be reduced to fewer than it is currently, so voting can be completed in one day. It would be even better if we applied e-voting or at least e-counting.

The weakness of a one-day election lies in the potential for sidelining regional issues by national ones, the lack of opportunity for public review over the performance of political parties and politicians in the government because of an absence of election debates, the heavy burden for election organizers, the large number of election disputes at the Constitutional Court and managing security.

Strengthening local democracies

Therefore, resolving the weakness of a one-day election requires splitting the election into two parts. First, a general election in April 2024 to elect the president and legislators to the House and DPD (3-ballot election). Second, regional elections in April 2027, three years after the nationwide elections to elect governors, regents/mayors and legislators to provincial/regency/municipal DPRDs (4-ballot election). The next election is held separately according to the general election cycle.

This format gives more room to strengthen regional autonomy and local democracies. The election of DPRD members is not mixed up with the House and DPD elections, but is held simultaneously with the election of regional heads. Moreover, there is a three-year lull in preparations for all stakeholders ahead of the general election. For the voters, the regional elections could be the occasion for reviewing the performance of political parties and politicians they chose in the general elections.

However, the risk is that the office terms for winners of the provincial/regency/municipal councils (DPRDs) in April 2024 would only be three years, until 2027. The simultaneous regional elections should be held twice more: in 2022 in 101 regions for a term of five years, and in 2023 in 171 regions for a term of four years. Meanwhile, for the 269 regions participating in the 2020 simultaneous regional elections, no other regional elections should be held in December in 2025, but acting regional heads should instead be appointed for a year until the election of regional heads in April 2027.

Separating the regional elections at the national and local levels is actually the final goal of the long-standing dream to simplify the Indonesian general elections (Vice Presidential Regulation, 2006). The direct regional elections are just an intermediate goal. Therefore, the government should immediately submit an amended Law No. 10/2016 on Regional Elections to the House.

Djohermansyah Djohan, Professor, Institute of Public Administration (IPDN); Former Regional Autonomy Director General, Home Ministry (2010-2014)