PKB Considers Making Up 'Twin Suns' If The Presidential Election Is Held February 21, 2024

JAKARTA - Deputy Secretary General of the National Awakening Party (PKB) DPP Luqman Hakim, assessed the potential for 'twin suns' in the 2024 Simultaneous Elections to be far-fetched.

This comes as a polemic over the voting day for the 2024 Pilleg and Presidential Elections, in which the government proposes May 15 and the KPU plans February 21.

"The assumption that there are twin suns due to the existence of presidential and vice-presidential candidates being elected in a long period of time, if the February 21 election is cast, in my opinion, this is a far-fetched reason," said Luqman Hakim, Sunday, October 10.

The deputy chairman of Commission II of the DPR then gave an example of the last round of the 2020 Pilkada. According to him, many regions already have elected regional heads but their inauguration is waiting for the existing regional head period to expire. At that time there was absolutely no security disturbance caused by the elected regional head candidate.

"If the presidential election is only one round, then at the end of March 2024 it will be determined that the elected presidential and vice presidential candidates will be elected if the ballot is February 21, 2024," explained Luqman.

With good communication, said Luqman, President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) can facilitate the transition process of government to the elected presidential candidate perfectly.

In addition, the elected presidential and vice-presidential candidates have the opportunity to include some of the visions, missions and promises of the election campaign into the 2025 APBN formulation, which the preparation process will take place in early 2024.

"Elected presidential and vice-presidential candidates from the 2024 General Election, after being sworn in on October 20, 2024, will immediately manage the 2025 State Budget, some of which already contain the vision, mission and election campaign promises. Such a transitional model will accelerate the return of community cohesion which had experienced dynamics due to the election," he said. Luqman.

Luqman added, from a democratic perspective, having presidential candidates elected at the same time as the President who is leading is not a negative thing. Instead, he said, their existence is an important prerequisite for a peaceful and dignified transition of government.

"The concept of twin suns that have a negative impact is only known in the culture of monarchy and empire. Our country does not adhere to a monarchy or imperial system. Indonesia is a democratic country," concluded Luqman.

Previously, a member of Commission II of the DPR from the PAN faction, Guspardi Gaus, supported the government's proposal regarding the simultaneous election schedule for May 15, 2024. He considered that the government proposed that the election be held on May 15, 2024 because of concerns about political turmoil if the presidential election was held at the beginning of the year, namely February 21, 2024. according to the Commission's proposal.

"Many things have been said by the government, the first is the issue that if on February 21 the legislative and presidential elections were held, especially the presidential election, it would certainly cause political turmoil, there would be no harmonization of the central government," said Guspardi, Saturday, October 9.

According to Guspardi, if the presidential election is held on February 21, the results of the presidential election will be immediately known to the public. Meanwhile, President Jokowi is still in office until October 2024, while if the elected president is not supported by the government, it is expected to cause chaos.

"Because of what? Because if at that time the presidential election did not proceed to the next stage, of course by that time it would have been known who would be the presidential candidate, if that happened, however, we cannot deny that there were certainly two suns at that time, His name is the incumbent president, whose name is Mr. Jokowi, who has already stated that he will not run again," said Guspardi.

"Then there are more results from the February 21 presidential election, especially if the person who advances is not supported by the government, it will certainly cause a dynamic of chaos and such. This is something that must be noted and known by the public," he said.