To organize simultaneous regional elections in 2020 in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the government has significantly increased the regional election budget.
By
KOMPAS TEAM
·5 minutes read
Kompas/Heru Sri Kumoro
Material presented at a hearing between members of Commission II of the DPR and the General Election Commission, Election Supervisory Board, Ministry of Home Affairs at the Parliament Building Complex, Senayan, Jakarta, Monday (22/6/2020).
To organize simultaneous regional elections in 2020 in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the government has significantly increased the regional election budget. The additional budget for health protocol enforcement alone is almost equal to the total budget for the General Election Commission to organize the 2015 regional election. Yet, holding a costly regional election in the midst of this pandemic poses risks to public health and the quality of the elections.
Based on data from the Finance Ministry, the total budget allocation for the 2020 regional election in 270 regions is Rp 20.46 trillion or an increase of Rp 5.23 trillion from the previous Rp 15.23 trillion. This additional budget is for implementing COVID-19 health protocols.
The budget consists of Rp 15.23 trillion from the regional budget (APBD) and Rp 5.23 trillion from the state budget (APBN). Of that amount, the budget allocated for the General Election Commission (KPU) is Rp 15.01 trillion, the Election Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu) Rp 3.93 trillion and security Rp 1.52 trillion.
It is the first time financial support for regional elections has come from the state budget. In the previous three regional elections, namely the 2015 election in 269 regions, the 2017 election (101 regions) and the 2018 election (171 regions), the regional election budget came from the APBD.
The presentation screen contains data during the launching of the Election Vulnerability Index (IKP) in Jakarta, Monday (29/8/2016).
More than double
With a total budget of Rp 20.46 trillion, the potential cost for regional elections per voter is around Rp 193,000. This is calculated from the estimated 105.8 million voters, based on data on potential voters in the 2020 regional election (DP4). For the estimated cost per voter, the budget for the KPU takes up the largest portion of around Rp 141,800 per voter.
As a comparison, according to Kompas\' records, in the 2015 regional elections, the election cost per voter born by the KPU was around Rp 55,600. Compared to these estimated costs, the cost per capita of the 2020 regional election is about 2.5 times greater than the 2015 regional election. Of course, this also takes inflation into consideration. On the other hand, in the 2020 regional election, there is an additional 1 region that will also organize an election, namely the city of Makassar, South Sulawesi, which actually held a regional election in 2018. However, because at that time, the sole candidate was defeated by the empty ballot box, the regional election was scheduled to be held again in 2020.
The significant increase in the budget amid the pandemic was due to an increase in the number of polling stations (TPS). This is a consequence of reducing the number of voters per TPS from initially 800 people to a maximum of 500 people. In addition, there are also large costs for the procurement of personal protective equipment for election organizers and voters, such as face masks, hand sanitizer, gloves, face shields and disinfectant.
Extra burden
Even though the budget has been increased to aid enforcement of COVID-19 protocols, civil society groups are worried the regional elections will become a cluster of COVID-19 transmission. This is because compliance with COVID-19 protocols by the public, including the candidates and their campaign teams, is still low. This can be seen from the mass gatherings during the registration of the candidates on Sept. 4-6.
Secretary-general of the Indonesian Forum for Budget Transparency (Fitra), Misbah Hasan, warned on Tuesday of the big risks posed by staging the regional elections during the pandemic.
The candidate pair for governor and deputy governor of South Kalimantan, Denny Indrayana-Difriadi Darjat (wearing flowers) was paraded by a mass of supporters when registering with the South Kalimantan General Election Commission in Banjarmasin, Saturday (5/9/2020).
"If many citizens are exposed to COVID-19, there will be an additional burden that must be borne by the state. In the end, the APBN and APBD must bear the cost of medical treatment. If someone dies, there must be special protocols, which requires a budget. Support for hospitals and the handling of corpses are all domino effects of the regional elections leading to clusters [of COVID-19 transmission]. That does not include the risks faced by doctors and health workers who for the past six months have been fighting tooth and nail against COVID-19," he said.
Misbah said the idea that regional elections could serve as an economic stimulus was not only wrong, but also irrelevant. People’s safety cannot be calculated solely by the budget and the budget cannot at all be used as a justification for continuing the elections. "Humanitarian costs cannot be calculated in rupiah. People\'s safety cannot be juxtaposed with hopes of an improved economic stimulus," he said.
If many citizens are exposed to COVID-19, there will be an additional burden that must be borne by the state.
Indonesian epidemiologist at Griffith University Dicky Budiman warned that the regional head elections would increase the rate of COVID-19 transmission. The biggest risk is the mobilization (of people) before the election. Indonesia cannot follow in the steps of other countries, such as South Korea, which decided to hold elections because it has been able to reduce the rate of transmission.
Meanwhile, director of the Center for Constitution Studies at Andalas University, Feri Amsari, reminded that organizing the regional elections during a pandemic not only posed risks for the smooth staging of the elections, but would also potentially have an impact on the quality of the elections. In fact, in each election, the quality of the election should be improved. Regional elections should not be just a formality, a routine agenda held once every five years. (REK/AIK/KRN/BOW/GAL)
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