West Java KPU Asks For The 2024 Pilkada Budget To Be Disbursed 1 Year Before Implementation

Illustration. Workers assemble ballot boxes in the warehouse of the Padang City KPU, West Sumatra, Monday 11 February 2019. (ANTARA-M Personal Arif)

The General Election Commission (KPU) of West Java (Jabar) emphasized that the 2024 Pilkada budget should have been there one year before it was held or November 2023.

West Java KPU chairman Rifqi Ali Mubarok explained that the budget was to finance all stages of the Pilkada in 12 months or one year.

"Because this election stage must start 12 months earlier, if the vote is November 27, 2024, it means that the initial phase of the Pilkada is November 27, 2023, because it is proposed this year and must exist," said Rifqi in Bandung, Friday, September 22, quoted by Antara.

In addition, Rifqi said that the proposed 2024 Pilkada budget was IDR 1.15 trillion, all of which had to be in the early stages of the Pilkada.

"But it really depends on the ability of the region, and by referring to the existing rules, namely the last Permendagri, at least 40 percent of the total budget since the beginning of the stage," said Rifqi.

The Pilkada budget, continued Rifqi, will be used for the preparation stage such as the making of regulations, the determination of stages, the process of establishing the District Election Committee (PPK) and the Voting Committee (PPS), then updating voter data, some of which must have started since November 2023.

The requirement for the budget, said Rifqi, is because the 12-month Pilkada stage cannot be cut off in the middle of the road with the excuse of waiting for the disbursement of funds.

"The treatment of this Pilkada fund is different from other grant funds, because the pilkada funds do not recognize the fiscal year. For example, if you both know the fiscal year, it means that at the end of 2023 the remainder will be returned, while in March 2024 the period of January and February the activity must be postponed first, it can't be done. So the remaining funds returned are at the end after the completion of the activity," he said.

The West Java KPU itself proposed a 2024 Pilkada budget of Rp1.15 trillion which was calculated based on the assumption that there were four pairs of candidates for governor and deputy governor, and the number of voters who exceeded around 35.3 million voters with each vote having equivalent funds of Rp35 thousand and possibly increasing.

The funds were used by the West Java KPU for various expenditure posts such as the PPK and PPS adhoc committees around 46 percent, 24-percent logistics needs, and the rest are expenditures of other goods and services such as debate activities, socialization, and campaign needs.

The West Java Provincial Government itself claims to have raised funds for the provincial election budget based on West Java Regional Regulation Number 14 of 2021, which began in 2022 and has collected around IDR 1 trillion.

The first phase of the funds is planned by the West Java Provincial Government to be disbursed in November 2023 of around Rp129 billion.

"The funds exist and are available," said West Java Regional Secretary, Setiawan Wangsaatmaja some time ago.