Building Solutions for Election Recapitulation

· 3 minutes read

There are only 11 days left. Midnight of May 22 is the deadline for recapitulation of national and overseas votes from the 2019 election.

We need to really count the days. Referring to the schedule, recapitulations at the district level should have been completed on May 5, on Wednesday at the regency/city level and Sunday at the provincial level. In reality, as of May 8, only five out of 34 provinces have completed their recapitulation process. Ten provinces have not even begun.

Article 413 of Law No. 7/2017 on elections instructs the General Election Commission (KPU) to determine the election results at the national level no later than 35 days after voting day.

Its failure to do so may lead to political instability, which will certainly affect the economy. At present, many business circles have complained that they cannot take measures to develop their business because they are still waiting for certainty about the election results. Again, the people will eventually become the victims in this scenario.

The 2019 election was the first simultaneous election ever held. Many parties, including drafters of the law, did not predict the complexities of the huge task, which means they also failed to predict the tight deadline.

The KPU and its regional offices that have attempted to accelerate the recapitulation process at various levels — an effort that should be appreciated. However, the deadline must also be met.

The wisdom of all parties involved is needed to address this issue. Like a match, the organizers, players, referees and even the spectators need to do their best.

A smooth recapitulation process can be hampered by the competition between candidates, with several regions and cities experiencing clashes between supporters.

Even allegations of fraud — should they emerge — should be proven. Every candidates must be ready to win, but they must be ready to lose.

As referees, the Election Supervisory Board (Bawaslu) and the Electoral Honorary Council must ensure that elections are run in an honest, fair, legal, orderly, open, proportional, professional, accountable, effective and efficient manner. Every complaint of alleged fraud must be taken into account, but the organizations must also look at the remaining deadlines. We need to jointly build a solution so that the recapitulation process can meet the deadline.

Much needs to be done for this nation to face difficult challenges in the future while also staying competitive at regional and global levels. As a nation, Indonesia should not be held hostage by election issues only. We must move forward.

Editor:

kompascetak