Minister Of Home Affairs: Registration Of The 2020 Pilkada Candidates Receives Negative Sentiment From The Public Due To Crowds

Home Affairs Minister Tito Karnavian (Photo: Antara)

JAKARTA - Minister of Home Affairs (Mendagri) Tito Karnavian emphasized that there should be no more mass gathering at the 2020 Regional Head Election (Pilkada) stage.

Tito reminded that this was because at the registration stage of the 2020 Pilkada candidate pairs there was a large crowd. That, according to Tito, should not happen again at the next stage such as the determination of candidate pairs and campaigns.

"We see from the September 4-6 schedule, that there is a mass crowd and it gets negative sentiment from both the public and from various groups," he said, quoted by Antara, Friday, September 18.

According to him, at the time of registering the candidate for regional head there was a declaration activity from the candidate for regional head which caused a crowd.

"In the KPUD office it is safe, but outside the office there was a declaration that some even used music, then a procession, some were convoys, and so on," he said.

The mass gathering, continued the Minister of Home Affairs, occurred due to a lack of socialization about the existing rules to prevent the transmission of COVID-19 as well as a lack of coordination between other relevant stakeholders.

This work, according to him, cannot be done by the election organizers alone, but must be supported by all parties. Then from the results of the evaluation meeting which was held a few days ago, there are three points of note that must be considered.

"There are three important points, the first is to socialize the stages of the pilkada, not all may understand about the stages of the pilkada and their vulnerabilities," said Tito.

Furthermore, said Tito, namely disseminating the rules, including the KPU Regulations, what should be done in the implementation of each stage.

"And the third is the declaration of the contestants witnessed by their political parties in their respective regions to comply with the COVID-19 health protocol," said Minister of Home Affairs Tito.

The Minister of Home Affairs added that everyone must understand the health protocol during the pandemic. There are four principles, namely wearing a mask, keeping your distance, cleaning your hands, and avoiding social crowds who cannot keep their distance.

The four health protocols must be strictly adhered to, bearing in mind that soon there will be an important stage in the regional election, one of which is the stage of determining candidate pairs.

"Later, it is a very important stage, namely the determination of candidate pairs by the KPUD of each region on September 23. This could result in vulnerability to mass gathering and perhaps even anarchist violence because at that time it will be announced which candidate pairs passed and which did not," he said.

The candidate pairs who have passed, continued Tito, might express their joy in the form of declarations or in processions and convoys.

Then those who have not passed, according to Tito, could later be their supporters to commit anarchist actions, starting from soft, emotional gathering, even attacking KPUD members.

"We ask the stakeholders in the regions to tell the contestants not to do mass gathering. So the point is that mass gathering should not happen, that is on September 23 and 24," he said.