The Apex Of The Regional Secretary's Proposal Is Considered To Be The Acting Regional Head

Bogor Mayor Bima Arya Sugiarto (second from right). ANTARA/HO-Bogor City Government

BOGOR - The Association of Indonesian City Governments (APEKSI) proposes that the Regional Secretary (Sekda) can be counted as an official (Pj) for regional heads to fill the vacancies of regional heads ahead of the 2024 Simultaneous General Elections (Pemilu).

The chairman of APEKSI Bima Arya Sugiarto conveyed his views regarding the Act to fill the vacant positions of hundreds of regional heads whose terms of office ended in 2022 and 2023.

"The proposal from APEKSI friends asks that the Regional Secretary must really be taken into account and recommended," said Bima as quoted by Antara, Wednesday, May 11.

Bima said APEKSI's view is that the Regional Secretary is the most senior official and has the most control over local government so that legitimacy is stronger and relatively trained to be neutral in politics.

The Regional Secretary is considered the most senior official, who has the most control over local government, I think he has stronger legitimacy and is relatively trained to be neutral in politics.

Bima, who is also the Mayor of Bogor, said that filling in as regional heads must continue to apply the spirit of democracy to avoid political content.

"APEKSI friends talk a lot about the potential for politicization and so on. Our conclusion is that moral hazard applies to all backgrounds. We must minimize negative excesses that can occur," he said.

According to him, there needs to be more detailed rules to ensure that officials must be mandated to oversee strategic programs so that local government development programs are sustainable. The reason is, in some regions there are acting regional heads who can serve up to 2 years.

"This is not just to determine the successor. It is the leader's job to ensure that his ideas continue. That the city is 'sustainable'. Not to mention that it is revealed in the RPJMD, RKPD, and others. We have the responsibility for 'stunting', what is the human development index? How about BPJS, it's a bit of a miss for just 1 year, it's troublesome. Especially if you don't pay attention to it for a long time, 2 years," said Bima.