Pak Tito Karnavian Please Fix, The Case Of The Elected Regent, Sabu Raijua, A US Citizen Shows The Ambiguity Of The Population System

JAKARTA - Deputy Chairman of Commission II of the Indonesian Parliament Luqman Hakim said that the case of the elected regent in Sabu Raijua Regency, Orient Patriot Riwu Kore, who has US citizenship, shows that Indonesia's population data system is messy.

"This is an alarming and embarrassing incident, as well as showing that our population data system is still in shambles," Luqman said in his statement, Thursday, February 4.

The Ministry of Home Affairs (Kemendagri) has confirmed that Orient has a US passport. However, Orient can record an electronic KTP ahead of his candidacy for regional head in the 2020 Pilkada.

Luqman said, the Ministry of Home Affairs must move quickly to improve the population system so that in the future there will be no cases of missing someone's residence status in the future.

"Mr. General Tito as Minister of Home Affairs with his experience as the Chief of Police, I believe it can fix the problem of our population system as quickly and accurately," said Luqman.

Previously, the Election Supervisory Body (Bawaslu) of Sabu Raijua Regency received the fact that the elected regent of Sabu Raijua, Orient Patriot Riwu Kore, was actually a US citizen.

In fact, Article 7 of Law Number 10 of 2016 concerning Pilkada, the requirement to become a candidate for regional head is an Indonesian citizen (WNI).

Based on a report from the East Nusa Tenggara General Election Commission (KPU), Orient, when he registered as a candidate for Regent of Sabu Raijua last September, he submitted the requirements for population data, namely an electronic KTP as an Indonesian citizen.

Orient population data has also been verified to the Department of Population and Civil Registration (Disdukcapil) Kupang City. As a result, the Kupang Disdukcapil confirmed that Orient was a resident of Kupang City.

During the registration process, Bawaslu Sabu Raijua has also cross-checked Orient's citizenship status with the Head of the NTT Provincial Immigration Office and the United States Embassy in Jakarta since September 10, 2020.

After time, Orient, who was paired with Thobias Uly, won the most votes in the election for the Regent-Deputy Regent of Sabu Raijua with 48.3 percent of the votes. They have been appointed as regents and deputy regents elected by the KPU.

Until finally, the US Embassy just replied to Bawaslu's letter on February 1, 2021. As a result, the US Embassy stated that Orient was a US citizen.

"Based on the reply letter, the United States Embassy in Jakarta informed that Orient Patriot Riwu Kowe is indeed an American citizen," said Head of Bawaslu Sabu Raijua, Yudi Tagi Utama in his statement.