Why Are Political Elites Fighting for South Tangerang in the 2020 Regional Elections?

JAKARTA - The election for the Mayor of South Tangerang was very lively. Three pairs are fighting for South Tangerang (Tangsel). Those three pairs are very close to national elite figures.

First, there's Rahayu Saraswati, Prabowo Subianto's nephew; and Siti Nur Azizah Ma'ruf; the vice president, Ma'ruf Amin's, daughter. So, what makes South Tangerang 'special' for the political elite?

The capital city of Jakarta is often mentioned as a reference for political parties to measure their electability on a bigger political stage. However, Tangerang Selatan, which was inaugurated in 2008, shows its attractiveness.

As quoted from Kompas, this area was formed at the pressure of Tangerang residents who feel marginalized. People who protested came from six regions. They were Ciputat, Pagedangan, Serpong, Pondok Aren, Casauk, and Pamulang.

At that time, they felt that the Tangerang government didn't pay attention to them. They were far from the center of the Tangerang Regency, even though Tangerang Selatan contributed 30% of Tangerang's revenue.

The attraction of South Tangerang is getting stronger with the plan to build digital clusters, such as Silicon Valley, in the United States. Apple, for example. They have founded the Apple Developer Academy in South Tangerang. This institution is the first in Asia and the third in the world. It certainly opens up investment opportunities for major world companies in Indonesia.

South Tangerang Regional Original Revenue (PAD), in the third quarter of 2019, had reached IDR 1.4 trillion. The PAD comes from local taxes, like a restaurant, entertainment, advertising, PBB, and BPHTB taxes. This income is the key to the success of the Tangsel City government in contributing revenue to the state.

From these facts, it's no wonder that South Tangerang becomes 'popular' among elites.

The Candidate Pairs in the 2020 South Tangerang Regional Elections

Gerindra Party chairperson, Prabowo Subianto, for example. Last July, he introduced his nephew, Rahayu Saraswati, as a candidate for deputy mayor of South Tangerang, accompanying Muhamad. Prabowo gave his support. Together with PDIP Party Secretary-General, Hasto Kristianto, at Prabowo's residence, Kertanegara, Jakarta.

Muhamad is a bureaucrat in Tangsel. He has been the regional secretary of Tangsel since 2015, and he started his career since 2011.

Meanwhile, Rahayu Saraswati Sara, is the daughter of Prabowo's younger brother, Hashim Djojohadikusumo. She started her political career through the wing organization Gerindra Party (Tunas) as head of development.

In the 2014 Election, she ran as a legislative member for the Central Java IV electoral district. She succeeded in becoming a member of Commission VII DPR RI. However, in the 2019 legislative election, she failed due to a lack of votes.

Muhamad-Sara will run for the South Tangerang regional election with the support of a coalition of four parties. Namely, Gerindra, PDIP, Hanura, and Nasdem.

A Flourish data visualization

Another candidate for mayor of South Tangerang is Siti Nur Azizah, paired with Ruhamaben. She is the daughter of the Indonesian Vice President Ma'ruf Amin.

She was born on September 5, 1972. She has built a career as a State Civil Apparatus (ASN) at the Indonesian Ministry of Religion in 2014-2019. Azizah's last position at the Ministry of Religion was the sub-directorate for the Development of Islamic Religious Understanding and Conflict Handling at the Directorate General of Islamic Community Guidance. Besides, Azizah is also a teacher at the STAI Salahudin Al Ayubi, North Jakarta, from 1995 until now.

On November 1, 2019, Azizah resigned as the Ministry of Religion's ASN. It was because she intends to run for the South Tangerang Regional Election. After giving up her status as ASN, she decided to become a cadre of the Democratic Party.

Meanwhile, her running mate in the 2020 Pilkada, Ruhamaben, was first involved in politics as a PKS Party cadre. Ruhama was the deputy chairman of the Tangsel DPRD in 2014.

Long before engaging in politics, Ruhama had a career in aviation. He was an aircraft engineer. As quoted from the website ruhamaben.id, the engineering career began when he received a scholarship from PT Industri Airplane Nusantara (IPTN) to receive his Bachelor and Master degree in Aviation Engineering at the Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands. The Democratic Party and PKS will support this pair.

The third candidate for deputy mayor of Tangsel is Pilar Saga Ichsan. Pilar is a cadre of the Golkar party and the son of the Regent of Serang Ratu Tatu Chasanah. Ratu Tatu is the younger sister of the former Banten Governor Ratu Atut Chosiyah and the sister-in-law of former South Tangerang City Mayor Airin Rachmi Diany.

Pilar was born in Bandung, May 14, 1991. He is known as an entrepreneur and an architect.

The politician who came from the Ratu Atut family is paired with the incumbent Benjamin Davnie. Currently, he is the deputy mayor of Tangsel, accompanying Mayor Airin.

Airin-Benyamin is the mayor and first deputy mayor of Tangsel. They were elected in the 2010 regional election, after Tangsel was expanded from Tangerang Regency. In the 2015 South Tangerang Regional Election, they paired up again and won again.

Calculating the Electability of the 2020 South Tangerang Regional Election Candidate Pairs

Based on the results of electability surveys from several institutions, Benyamin Davnie's name is almost always superior. Meanwhile, Muhammad and Siti Nur Azizah were 'chasing' each other.

Based on the National Political Study Survey (KPN), for example. This research explained that if there was no white group option (not voting), Benyamin Davnie received the highest electability with 32.9%. Followed by Muhammad 25%, and Siti Nur Azizah 21.5%.

Meanwhile, in the deputy position, the highest points were Ruhamaben with 6.5%, followed by Ichsan Saga Pillar with 4.6%, and Rahayu Saraswati 1.2%.

However, if there's a white group option, the results are quite surprising. The majority of respondents, or around 55%, chose not to vote. Benyamin Davnie still leads with 14.3%, both Siti Nur Azizah 11.6% and Muhammad shifted to third place with 9.5%.

Then, the first survey related to the South Tangerang Pilkada was carried out by the Indonesian Concept Institute (Konsindo) on 27 June-2 July 2019, with 440 respondents. Of the 22 names, there were five names with high electability. First, Benyamin Davnie with 23.6%, Muhammad 10%, Andiara Aprilia Hikmat 9.3%, Abraham Samad 4.3%, and Arsid 3.4%. Meanwhile, Hj. Siti Nur Azizah Ma'ruf, came 17th in the survey with 0.7%.

Meanwhile, based on the results of the Indonesian Political Indicators survey (September-October 2019) Muhammad's name returned to follow Siti Nur Azizah. The question was "If today was the elections day, who would you vote?" Respondents' answers to the simulation of four names, the result was that Benyamin Davnie was in first place with 35.4%, followed by Muhammad 16.9%, Siti Nur Azizah 8%, and Aldrin Ramadian 3.6%.

Finally, according to a survey by Indopolling Network in December 2019, there was a decrease in the electability of the three mayoral candidates. Benyamin Davnie 32.9%, Muhammad 16.8%, and Siti Nur Azizah 3.6%.

The survey will be very different from the results in the field. Moreover, the level of the white group, based on the survey, was quite high. At least, each candidate pair still has almost as big a chance to win South Tangerang seats one and two.

Konsindo and KPN also noted the problems that were most often felt by residents. The answer is at least five problems, namely: corruption, health, housing for the poor, infrastructure, and high crime rates. Candidates who can provide programs for these five problems are very likely to get the attention of the Tangsel community.

2020 Regional Election

The Regional Head Election or Pilkada 2020 will be special compared to other democratic parties. The 2020 Pilkada will go down in history. It will be held during an emergency period for the spread of COVID-19.

To provide legal certainty regarding the implementation of health protocols in the 2020 Pilkada, the government has issued the General Election Commission (KPU) Regulation Number 6 of 2020 or PKPU No. 6/2020. The regulation contains rules for implementing health protocols at each stage of the Pilkada.

The KPU has also prepared a simulation of the voting process to counting votes at polling stations. They will implement the COVID-19 prevention health protocol that involves the COVID-19 Handling Task Force. In its application, the KPU must prioritize the use of digital media. Both in socialization or campaigns. The KPU also limits the face-to-face socialization participants and limits the number of masses who accompany the registration process for prospective pilkada participants to the KPU.

Apart from the organizers, political parties, and prospective candidates who will attend the registration are also required to apply health protocols. One of its applications is the submission of registration documents for the candidate pair Pilkada as regulated in Article 49 Paragraph (1) PKPU 6/2020.

The documents must be wrapped in a material that is resistant to liquid substances. Then before the officer accepts the document, it will be sprayed first with a disinfectant liquid.

Under the regulation, document receiving officers are required to wear personal protective equipment. Such as masks and disposable gloves. Other rules: limit the number of people in the room; crowd-making is prohibited; submission of documents must be spaced and queued; all parties brought their respective stationery; avoiding physical contact; provision of adequate sanitation facilities; and the room should be kept clean.

Apart from the registration process, the campaign and voting will also be different from normal conditions. In the campaign process, the health protocol rules are listed in Articles 57-64.

The candidate pairs must limit themselves to meet the public as much as possible. Public discussions t be held in broadcasting studios. Supporters are not allowed to attend these events.

To realize this regulation, the government has added a budget for the 2020 Pilkada. Based on data from the Ministry of Home Affairs last August, the total regional election budget is IDR 15.22 trillion. Meanwhile, the regional government disbursed IDR 12.01 trillion or 92.05%. So, there is still another 7.95% or IDR 1.21 trillion.

This amount includes an additional budget as a cost to anticipate the spread of COVID-19. For the General Election Commission (KPU), the additional fund is IDR 4.7 trillion, Bawaslu IDR 478 billion, and the Honorary Board of Election Administrators (DKPP) IDR 39 billion, supported by the State Revenue and Expenditure Budget (APBN).

Tag: pilkada tangsel politik