Simultaneous Pilkada Still Continues, Coalition: This Decision Offends Public Hearts

Illustrations (Photo: Irfan Meidianto / VOI)

JAKARTA - A number of organizations that are members of the civil society coalition continue to urge the government, election organizers and the DPR to postpone the implementation of the 2020 Pilkada.

"We urge that the 2020 Pilkada be postponed, until the pandemic situation is more under control, with a much more detailed mapping in coordination with BNPB which is responsible for handling COVID-19," said Partnership Monitoring Advisor Wahidah Suaib during a webinar discussion, Tuesday, September 22.

Wahidah also stated that his party criticized the decision of the election authority holders who agreed to continue the implementation of Pilkada during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This agreement was made at the DPR RI Commission II hearing (RDP) with the Minister of Home Affairs (Mendagri), the General Election Commission (KPU), the Election Supervisory Board (Bawaslu), and the Election Organizer Honorary Council (DKPP).

The government and the DPR, according to Wahidah, seem not to care about the demands of the public and a number of figures to postpone the 2020 Pilkada, such as the 12th Vice President of the Republic of Indonesia Jusuf Kalla, the Muhammadiyah Central Leadership, and Nahdlatul Ulama.

"This decision hurts the hearts of the people. The DPR, government and election organizers seem to have closed their eyes and ears to the real voice of the people to postpone the 2020 Pilkada," said Wahidah.

He continued, the government and the DPR also seemed not to understand what was happening, so it was easy to conclude that the Pilkada would continue.

In fact, Wahidah wonders why the DPR only recommends enforcing health protocols when undergoing the election stages and imposing sanctions for those who violate it only based on KPU regulations.

"In fact, the current Pilkada Law does not regulate the technical details and management of the pilkada implementation which must be in accordance with the needs of a pandemic," he explained.

"This means that regulatory improvements cannot only be carried out in the KPU Regulations, but must be carried out in the Pilkada Law," he added.

The organizations that are part of this coalition are Kemitraan, KawalCOVID19, KOPEL Indonesia, Koalisi Perempuan Indonesia / Mieke Verawati, LaporCovid-19, Migrant Care, NETFID, NETGRIT, Young Citizens Association, Perludem, Pusako, TI-I, and ICW.

It is known, after President Jokowi confirmed that the Pilkada will continue, DPR RI Commission II, Minister of Home Affairs (Minister of Home Affairs) Tito Karnavian, and the General Election Commission (KPU) agreed that the Pilkada would not be postponed and would continue amid the pandemic. This decision was taken after they held a meeting.

"Commission II of the Indonesian House of Representatives together with the Minister of Home Affairs, Chairperson of KPU RI, Chairperson of Bawaslu RI and Chairperson of the RI DKPP have agreed that the implementation of the 2020 Pilkada Simultaneously will be held on December 9, 2020 by enforcing discipline and legal sanctions for violations of the COVID-19 health protocol," said the Chairman of Commission II. DPR RI Ahmad Doli Kurnia read out the conclusion of the meeting.

To anticipate the spread of COVID-19 due to health protocol violations, Commission II of the DPR RI asked the KPU to revise KPU Regulation No.10 of 2020.

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