Nomination Requirements Are Increasingly Tough, Individual Route in 2024 Pilkada Predicted to be Low in Interest

The election euphoria and tight preparations are expected to cause the number of individual candidates in the 2024 regional elections to fall.

ALIF ICHWAN

Banners of prospective candidates who will participate in the 2020 Depok mayoral election were installed on Arief Rahman Hakin Road at Lima Depok Intersection, West Java, on Sunday (5/4/2020).

JAKARTA, KOMPAS – It is estimated that the 2024 regional head elections through independent or individual channels in the 2024 regional head elections are expected to lack interest. The number of non-party regional head candidates is predicted to decrease compared to previous regional elections because support requirements tend to be burdensome. In fact, the existence of individual candidates is important as an alternative and to create healthy competition.

Referring to General Election Commission Regulation (PKPU) Number 2 of 2024 concerning Stages and Schedule for the Election of Governor and Deputy Governor, Regent and Deputy Regent, as well as Mayor and Deputy Mayor in 2024, the regional election stages for the individual route have started on Sunday (5/5 /2024) this. KPU has scheduled the stages of fulfilling the requirements for supporting individual candidates to take place from May 5 to August 19 2024.

As for the submission of support from independent candidates, it is scheduled for May 8-12, 2024. The administrative verification of the requirements documents for independent candidate will be held on May 13-29, 2024. Meanwhile, the simultaneous regional elections in 37 provinces and 508 regencies/cities are set to take place on November 27, 2024.

Titi Anggraini, the Chairman of the Association for Elections and Democracy (Perludem), revealed that the requirements for independent candidate have become increasingly difficult from one regional head election (Pilkada) to another. Referring to Law Number 10 of 2016 regarding Pilkada, the requirement for independent candidates is to first obtain support from 6.5 percent to 10 percent of the total permanent voter list (DPT) in the region where Pilkada is held.

KOMPAS/PRADIPTA PANDU

Titi Anggraini

With those conditions, according to Titi, candidates who do not have a mass network, capital funding, and solid voter support, will have difficulty meeting the requirements. Moreover, the factual verification of support for independent candidates is done through census methods.

"Considering the tight preparation for the regional elections (pilkada) that coincide with the general elections, and the prevailing euphoria of the elections, I suspect that the number of independent candidates will decrease compared to the 2020 pilkada. In fact, the nomination process has not yet fully consolidated, leaving little time for independent candidates to prepare," said Titi, on Sunday (5/5/2024).

The number of independent candidates participating in local elections may fluctuate, but tends to decrease. According to Kompas records, in the 2020 local elections held in 270 regions, there were 61 pairs of independent candidate with a winning percentage of 8 percent. This number has decreased compared to the 2018 local elections which were participated by 69 pairs of independent candidates, although their percentage of winning was 2.22 percent. At that time, the elections took place in 171 regions.

I suspect the number of individual candidates will decrease compared to the 2020 regional elections.

Then in the 2017 regional elections held in 101 regions, there were 68 independent candidate pairs who participated in the contest. This was almost half the number of independent candidates in the 2015 regional elections, which reached 135 pairs. The percentage of election success for independent candidates in the 2015 regional elections held in 269 regions also reached 9.63 percent.

Titi continued, so far, based on the rules that apply in the Regional Elections Law, the amount of support required as a minimum requirement for independent regional candidate nomination varies in each region based on the DPT.

In the gubernatorial election, regions with a voter list count of 0-2 million are required to have a minimum of 10 percent support from the total permanent voters. For areas with a voter list count of 2 million to 6 million, the minimum support requirement is around 8.5 percent of the total number of permanent voters.

The provinces with a total voter list of 6 million to 12 million people require independent candidates to have a minimum of 7.5% support. Meanwhile, regions with the highest voter lists of more than 12 million require independent candidates to obtain 6.5% support.

For regional elections at the district or city level, the minimum requirement for the number of support is based on the number of eligible voters. The larger the number of eligible voters, the lower the percentage of the minimum requirement for support will be.

It's hard to compete

According to Titi, it is more difficult for individual candidates to compete due to limited capital and political networks, especially if they have to face candidates promoted by party coalitions. Individual candidates also do not have structural power like political parties have party machines that have been institutionalized down to the village level. Therefore, individual candidates need to form a winning team structure that is effective and solid without having to be expensive and fat.

In addition, campaign issues should also be designed appropriately so that they can be quickly accepted by the voting public. Community organization niches and religious figures can become opportunities for winning if managed well and properly targeted by independent candidates.

AMBROSIUS HARTO MANUMOYOSO

Muhammad Sholeh (seated in a red shirt) and M Taufik Hidayat (seated in a white shirt) were seen submitting the required documents for minimum support to the Surabaya City General Election Commission, East Java, on Sunday (23/2/2020).

"Independent candidates could be an option for efforts to prevent single candidates, which have become a phenomenon in our local elections. In the midst of pragmatic parties taking advantage in nominating candidates for the sake of winning and being less willing to work hard in advocating party organic cadres, independent candidates can become an alternative political choice for voters," said Titi.

Aditya Perdana, a Political Science lecturer at the University of Indonesia, assesses that independent candidates are a dilemma because they face various problems in reality. For example, economic and political capital barriers, difficult requirements to fulfill, and complicated relationships between the executive and legislative branches if an independent candidate successfully wins in an electoral contest because they do not have political support in parliament.

Also read: Prospective Regional Head Candidates Start Lobbying to Build Coalitions

He is worried that the stringent requirements and heavy competition ahead will make people hesitant to proceed with the independent path. Yet, the presence of independent candidates in elections is important as an alternative candidate for the public. In addition, independent candidates are also one of the solutions to prevent the presence of a single candidate in elections.

"Political and economic groups in the region have already limited that space, making it reasonable that the chances for independent candidates are getting smaller, while at the same time the requirements to become an independent candidate are becoming more difficult," said Aditya.