Bawaslu Discusses Preparedness And Budget For Supervision Of The 2024 Regional Elections

Member of Bawaslu Kepri, Said Abdullah Dahlawi/Photo: Antara

RIAU ISLANDS - The Election Supervisory Body for the Riau Islands Province (Bawaslu Kepri) has begun discussing the 2024 Pilkada supervision budget, which is still based on the 2020 Pilkada.

A member of the Riau Islands Bawaslu, Said Abdullah Dahlawi, said that the budget for monitoring the 2024 Riau Islands Regional Head Election is estimated to be not much different from the previous regional elections.

The 2020 Pilkada supervision budget allocated by the Riau Islands Provincial Government reached Rp. 58 billion. However, the budget was not fully utilized due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

A number of election monitoring activities at that time could not be carried out to prevent crowds. Even other surveillance activities that should be carried out face-to-face have had to be carried out online to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

"About Rp11 billion of the 2020 Pilkada supervision budget we returned to the regional treasury, because quite a lot of activities were not carried out," he said, in Tanjungpinang, Tuesday, March 22.

Said said that the Riau Islands election budget for 2024 was also influenced by conditions in 2023, such as the unit price of necessities used, room rent, and the honorarium for election supervisory officers with ad hoc status.

"We are also still waiting for technical instructions regarding the implementation of the 2024 Simultaneous Regional Head Elections," he said, quoted by Antara.

Previously, Riau Islands KPU member Priyo Handoko estimated that the budget for the 2024 Simultaneous Regional Head Elections would be higher than 2020. The 2024 Riau Islands regional election budget estimate was more than the previous regional elections.

In the 2020 Riau Islands Regional Head Election, the Riau Islands Provincial Government allocated a budget of Rp. 98 billion.

"We are unable to convey now the estimated budget needed for the 2024 Riau Islands Regional Head Election, because we have to submit it first to the governor. But again, the regional election budget that we have submitted is only an estimate, which of course can change according to conditions in 2023 and the needs of 2024," he said again.

According to him, the budget requirements for the Riau Islands Regional Head Election in 2024 should be submitted by the new Riau Islands KPU members. Soon the five members of the Riau Islands KPU will end their term of office, and a re-selection will be carried out.

The 2020 Riau Islands Regional Head Election budget which was sourced from the Riau Islands Provincial Government grant funds was not used entirely. The Riau Islands KPU returned a budget of around Rp. 16 billion, because a number of activities could not be carried out, such as the candidate debate program not being broadcast on national television media.

"At that time there were several activities that were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic," he also said.