Option to Save People
I would like to start this article with a fundamental question: Why do we organize regional head elections? The answer is very simple.
I would like to start this article with a fundamental question: Why do we organize regional head elections? The answer is very simple.
We want the people to elect their leader and that leader is the one who makes programs and policies so that people can live in safety, prosperity, justice can maintain their health, reduce the risk of death, get a good education and so on.
However, if in the process of electing a leader it can in fact cause the people to become ill, or even die, why should we insist on organizing the election?
It is in this context that I wish to speak. We are faced with a very complicated choice: prioritizing health and safety or regional head elections? If we use a rational approach, we would choose health and safety. The number of people infected (with Covid-19) in the world and in Indonesia is increasing.
Also read: Calls to Postpone Regional Elections Grow
There is no sign of decline. General Election Commission (KPU) chairman Arief Budiman, KPU member Pramono Ubaid Thantowi and South Sulawesi KPU chairman Faisal Amir have tested positive (for Covid-19). They are responsible for organizing the regional head elections.
The regional head elections have been postponed from September 2020 to December 2020. As many as 9 provinces, 224 regencies and 37 municipalities will organize regional head elections. Seeing the registration of regional head candidates some time ago we easily predict that there would be a surge (or cluster) of infected people because they were not disciplined in enforcing the health protocols.
If each of those regions holds an election at a different time, in one week, we would organize regional head elections twice because the number of days in one year is 365 and the term of office of the regional heads is five years.
The idea to organize simultaneous regional head elections began when I was leading the Golkar Party many years ago. There are more than 500 regencies/municipalities and 34 provinces in our country. If each of those regions holds an election at a different time, in one week, we would organize regional head elections twice because the number of days in one year is 365 and the term of office of the regional heads is five years.
Would our nation only deal with regional heads every day? When would the nation think about development or any other issue? Then, we decided to have the simultaneous regional head elections in two parts. What we\'re going to organize in the near future is one of those parts.
Crucial part
The riskiest stage in an election is the campaign. All candidates will have the potential to violate the health protocols in order to win as many votes as possible. If it is not the candidate who uses various methods (that violate the protocols) to win votes, then the supporters will do it. Another risky stage is voting day when crowds of people cannot be avoided because voters must wait in line to vote.
Also, the logistical aspects: the ballots, the pens or other tools being used to punch the ballots, the ink to mark that someone has voted, the voting booths and so on, can all become a medium for Covid-19 transmission.
The next stage, the vote counting. Surely, the witnesses or supporters of the candidates will jostle at this stage because they want to make sure their candidate does not lose or get rigged. Perhaps, because of fear of Covid-19 transmission, the witnesses and supporters do not want to witness the vote counting.
Also read: People\'s Welfare is the Supreme Law
However, after the election results come out, the losers will be busy claiming that they were cheated. This is what I\'m very worried about. At this stage, the aspects of transparency and legitimacy of the regional head elections are at stake.
Now, the Covid-19 problem. Until now, there is no vaccine nor medicine to treat it. All we can do is to avoid it by: washing our hands as often as possible, keeping our distance from each other and wearing a face mask. Keeping a distance from each other is the most complicated in all the stages of the elections. It means the possibility of virus transmission in the process is very high.
The problem is a campaign is a media for the candidates to come up with ideas, programs and ways to implement them. If the campaign rules are so tight that it (the campaign) cannot be a means for all of this, elections will only be a mere ceremonial democracy.
Currently, among the many candidates for regional head, 60 of them are found to have tested positive for Covid-19.
Executive director of Indo Barometer, M Qodari, called it a time bomb. The problem is, in December this year, Covid-19 will potentially become widespread. Currently, among the many candidates for regional head, 60 of them are found to have tested positive for Covid-19.
Option to postpone election
What about other countries? To date, 71 countries have postponed elections (both local and national levels for the executive or legislative bodies). All postponements are because of the Covid-19 problem.
Also read: Regional Elections, Pandemic and Threats of Recession
One thing that also needs attention is people\'s participation in elections amid this pandemic. We can test this by seeing what will happen. In 1918 in the United States, for example, there was influenza that swept across the country. At that time an election was held and only 40 percent of the people exercised their voting rights.
An example during the Covid-19 pandemic is Queensland, Australia, which organized an election on 28 March 2020. The number of voters was only 77.3 percent from 83 percent previously. In Australia, voting is compulsory and those who do not do so will be subject to fines. Australians would rather be fined than infected with Covid-19.
During local elections in France that were also in March 2020, the turnout was only 44.7 percent, from 63 percent previously. At the start of the spread of Covid-19, elections were held in Iran and the turnout was only 40 percent, the lowest since the Iranian Revolution in 1979.
These statistics clearly show that there is a positive correlation between this widespread and dangerous disease, and particularly the current level of Covid-19 transmission, and the percentage of voters who exercise their voting rights. The aim of every election, be it local or national, is to get the people to participate in the process to elect their leaders. The legitimacy of a leader is largely determined by the number of people who vote for him. This legitimacy is related to the authority to lead and carry out the programs of the leader.
So, the best way, for the sake of the people, is to postpone the regional head elections until next year, after the vaccine is discovered and is truly effective in preventing the spread of Covid-19. We can organize the elections in June 2021. Forcing something that is clearly endangering people\'s lives is not only reckless, but fatal. All political processes have one noble purpose that is for the benefit of the people. Not harming the people.
So far, such mechanism has always been running well.
In addition, generally, the regions that will organize the elections (in December) have regional heads whose term of office will end next year. So, there is no need to worry that there will be a vacuum of government. After all, even if the regional heads’ term has ended someone can be appointed as the acting head. So far, such mechanism has always been running well.
Legal aspects of postponement
From the legality aspect, postponing the election for regional heads is very simple. Article 120 of the Regulation in Lieu of Law (Perppu) No. 2/2020 concerning the Regional Head Elections clearly stipulates, in the event of, among other things, natural or non-natural disasters, which cause several stages in elections or simultaneous elections cannot be done, then a further election or simultaneous election shall be organized.
To do this, Article 122A of the Perppu states, with the mutual agreement between the KPU, the government and the House of Representatives (DPR), the regional head elections can be held. There is no need to revise the existing laws anymore.
Particularly for Covid-19, the Presidential Decree No. 12/2020 concerning the Determination of Non-Natural Disaster of the Spread of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (Covid-19) as a National Disaster can clearly be a reference for postponing the regional head elections because Covid-19 has been declared a national disaster.
Wise men say whatever we do, the ones with highest value are doing for the safety of the people. Not the other way around.
M. Jusuf Kalla, Vice President of the Republic of Indonesia from 2004-2009 and 2014-2019