Government Discusses Draft Perppu Pilkada

Illustrated / VOI

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Politics, Law and Security (Kemenkopolhukam) gathered related parties to discuss plans for making government regulations in lieu of the 2020 Pilkada law (Perppu).

The institutions that participated in discussing the Perppu were the Ministry of Home Affairs (Kemendagri), the General Election Commission (KPU), and the Election Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu).

"Our meeting today at 14.00 WIB discussed the draft Perppu for the elections," said Bawaslu member Fritz Edward Siregar when confirmed, Friday, September 18.

The Perppu regarding the current regional elections has indeed been issued, namely the Perppu Number 2 of 2020. Now, the Perppu has been passed into Law Number 6 of 2020.

However, the Perppu, which was signed by President Joko Widodo on May 4, only regulates the implementation of the 2020 Pilkada in general during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Meanwhile, the technical rules up to the pilkada stages that involve physical meetings are still regulated in the old Pilkada Law.

The KPU and Bawaslu cannot act decisively to modify technical regulations to prevent transmission of COVID-19 and provide sanctions for violators of health protocols.

Therefore, the second volume of the Perppu, which will be discussed today, will discuss the handling of health protocol violations for election participants and organizers.

"The Perppu which will be discussed today (discusses) violations of the health protocol for the elections," said Fritz.

Fritz said, the perppu discussion meeting is likely to be held behind closed doors. However, after the meeting is over, they will convey the results to the public.

Previously, KPU Commissioner Viryan Azis encouraged Jokowi to issue a Perppu. Because, he said, the KPU could not prevent the crowds that occurred during the registration of the chaplain because of the rigid Pilkada Law.

"There needs to be an adaptation in the Election Law which guarantees the implementation of the disciplinary stages of the selection of the COVID-19 health protocol," said Viryan.

"The adaptation can only be done in the form of another Pilkada Perppu. The need for the perppu is important. If this effort is taken by the government, it (the issuance of the perppu) will not come out in a long time," he continued.

Learning from previous experience, Viryan thinks that the Perppu should not only focus on campaign aspects.

"It is also necessary to check and ensure all stages that are and will be running as a process that is disciplined with health protocols," he concluded.