The Ministry Of Home Affairs Fears That The Hoax COVID-19 Will Decrease Voter Participation In The 2020 Pilkada

Ilustrasi (Ilham Amin / VOI)

JAKARTA - The special staff of the Minister of Home Affairs (Mendagri) Tito Karnavian, Kastorius Sinaga said that various hoax issues of COVID-19 could be used as a black campaign to reduce voter numbers in the 2020 Pilkada event. in the contestation.

"You must be aware that hoaxes related to COVID-19 are used in black campaign efforts to bring down political opponents in regional election contestations. The spread of hoaxes with the COVID-19 issue for the sake of scrambling or gaining votes can be a black campaign strategy which ultimately causes voter participation to decline," he said Kastorius was quoted as saying in his written statement quoted by VOI, Wednesday, October 28.

According to him, there were various hoaxes that might spread later when the voting was held on December 9. One example of hoaxes that may be spread is related to the existence of prospective voters and election management committees, in this case KPPS officers who are exposed to COVID-19. With this kind of hoax, he said, it is very possible that the enthusiasm of voters will decrease.

So, to prevent this situation, Minister of Home Affairs Tito Karnavian has asked regional leaders such as governors to mayors to work together with stakeholders. In addition, the Regional Leaders Communication Forum (Forkompimda) was also asked to collaborate with local media to socialize the 2020 Pilkada, which of course must pay attention to the implementation of health protocols.

In addition, the anti hoax campaign in the regions that will carry out the 2020 Pilkada must also be carried out massively. So, concerns about a decrease in the number of voters will not occur and the public can actually help the government to fight hoaxes.

Furthermore, the Ministry of Home Affairs also continues to monitor violations and compliance with health protocols committed by candidate pairs who will advance in the 2020 Pilkada and the results are very satisfying compared to before because only a few violations have occurred.

"Every week we monitor violations and compliance with health protocols during the campaign period," he said.

"Of the 9,500 face-to-face campaigns, only 250 or 2.5 percent of the violations occurred. This means that this regional election is safe for COVID-19 and shows an encouraging trend," he concluded.

Pilkada 2020

The Regional Head Election or Pilkada 2020 will be special compared to other democratic parties. The 2020 Pilkada will go down in history because this democratic party was held when Indonesia was still in an emergency period for the spread of COVID-19.

To provide legal certainty regarding the implementation of health protocols in the implementation of the 2020 Pilkada, the government has issued General Election Commission (KPU) Regulation Number 6 of 2020 or PKPU No. 6/2020. The regulation contains rules for implementing health protocols at each stage of the Pilkada.

The KPU has also prepared a simulation of the voting process to counting votes at polling stations by implementing the COVID-19 prevention health protocol that involves the COVID-19 Handling Task Force. In its application, the KPU must prioritize the use of digital media in socialization or campaigns. In addition, the KPU also limits the face-to-face socialization participants and limits the number of masses who accompany the registration process for candidate pilkada participants to the KPU.

Apart from the organizers, political parties and prospective candidates who will attend the registration are also required to apply health protocols. One of its applications is the submission of registration documents for the candidate pair Pilkada which is regulated by Article 49 Paragraph (1) PKPU 6/2020.

The regulation stipulates that the documents submitted must be wrapped in a material that is resistant to liquid substances. Then before being accepted by the officer, the document was sprayed first with a disinfectant liquid.

Under the regulation, document receiving officers are required to wear personal protective equipment in the form of masks and disposable gloves. Other rules: limit the number of people in the room; crowd-making is prohibited; submission of documents must be spaced and queued; all parties brought their respective stationery; avoiding physical contact; provision of adequate sanitation facilities; and the room where the activities are kept clean.

Apart from the registration process, the campaign and voting will also be different from normal conditions. In the campaign process, the health protocol rules are listed in Articles 57-64.

What will feel the most different in the 2020 Pilkada is that candidate pairs must limit themselves to meeting the general public as much as possible. The regulation also regulates public discussions that must be held in broadcasting studios. Supporters are not allowed to attend these events.

To realize this regulation, the government has added a budget for the 2020 Pilkada. Based on data from the Ministry of Home Affairs (Kemendagri) at the end of last August, the total regional election budget was Rp. 15.22 trillion. Meanwhile, the amount disbursed by the regional government was Rp. 12.01 trillion or 92.05 percent. So there is still 7.95 percent or Rp1.21 trillion that has not been disbursed.

This amount includes an additional budget as a cost to anticipate the spread of COVID-19. For the General Election Commission (KPU), the additional budget is IDR 4.7 trillion, Bawaslu IDR 478 billion, and the Honorary Board of Election Administrators (DKPP) IDR 39 billion, supported by the State Revenue and Expenditure Budget (APBN).