Government Reviews Regional Head Election Mechanism After OTT Rises

JAKARTA - Minister of Home Affairs (Mendagri) Tito Karnavian emphasized that the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK)'s hand arrest operation (OTT) against the Central Lampung Regent, Ardito Wijaya, must be a strong alarm for all regional heads. This arrest, according to him, again shows that the regional head election mechanism (pilkada) immediately does not automatically produce leaders who are free from corrupt practices.

Tito expressed his concern over the OTT held by the KPK on Wednesday, December 10. Although he has not received a complete report on the case, he stressed that this incident has again added to the long list of regional heads involved in corruption.

"The local head directly does not guarantee that the regional head is good and free from corruption, even though they have participated in the development and retret of national insight," Tito said at the Ministry of Home Affairs office.

The KPK previously arrested five people in operations in Central Lampung, including Regent Ardito Wijaya. They are suspected of being involved in bribery practices related to local government projects.

Tito said the government would conduct a thorough evaluation of the regional election mechanism. He considered that the direct electoral system that had been implemented had not been fully able to produce leaders with high integrity.

The discourse on this evaluation has strengthened along with the many regional heads who have been arrested by the KPK in recent years. A number of major corruption cases that dragged regional officials into a real example of the weak integrity of some regional leaders.

Examples Of Regional Heads Who Have Been Entangled In KPK OTT

Some of the major cases handled by the KPK previously include:

1. Nurdin Abdullah, Governor of South Sulawesi (OTT 2021), was involved in a bribery case related to infrastructure development projects.

2. Rita Widyasari, Regent of Kutai Kartanegara (OTT 2017), regarding the receipt of bribes and gratuities from a number of regional projects.

3. Puput Tantriana Sari, Regent of Probolinggo (OTT 2021), related to the sale and purchase of village head positions.

4. Langkat Regent Publishes Plan to Warn (OTT 2022), related to project bribery and the findings of human cages in his private home.

5. Banyuasin Regent Yan Anton Ferdian (OTT 2016), related to bribes for the procurement of the education office.

The series of cases show that corruption at the regional level is still a serious problem even though various prevention efforts have been carried out.

With the re-occurrence of OTT on regional heads, the government assesses that the evaluation of the regional election system is increasingly urgent. The goal is to ensure that the election mechanism is able to produce leaders who are not only popular electorally, but also uphold integrity and accountability in running the government.