Mahfud MD: The Election Is Looking For A Leader, Not The Enemy

Mahfud MD (DOK ANTARA)

JAKARTA - Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Mahfud MD said the election had an aim to find leaders who were mutually agreed upon. "The election is looking for a common leader, not looking for enemies. Looking for the leader, because we are a democratic country and people's abilities and aspirations are different, so we need a leader who can sew all the differences," Mahfud said at the Gakkumdu Center Discussion Forum, as monitored online through the YouTube channel of the Coordinating Ministry for Political, Legal and Security Affairs, Jakarta, Antara, Tuesday, August 8. He hopes that after the five-year democratic party is over, people can reunite. This is because the Indonesian people have chosen a leader for their country. "We have chosen a leader, not one who previously did not vote like us and was then considered an enemy, then became a divided opposition," he said. Mahfud did not question the criticism of certain candidates for leadership during the election. However, this condition did not cause prolonged divisions until the next election. "Leaders must exist, because if they don't exist, the country disbands means we betray the country's founders and betray the constitutional order," he explained. On the other hand, continued Mahfud, he also has no problem if there are people who want to choose a leader based on their political identity. Political identity is related to a religious and racial ethnicity. "Is choosing based on (identity) not allowed? Yes, but shouldn't it be used as a tool, let alone to bring down discrimination against others," he asserted. Based on the schedule set by the General Election Commission (KPU) of the Republic of Indonesia, the registration of prospective presidential and vice presidential candidates is scheduled to start from October 19 to November 25, 2023. As regulated in Law Number 7 of 2017 concerning General Elections (UU Pemilu), pairs of presidential and vice presidential candidates are proposed by political parties or coalitions of political parties participating in the election who meet the requirements for obtaining seats of at least 20 percent of the total number of seats in the DPR or obtaining 25 percent of valid votes nationally in the previous election for members of the DPR.

Currently, there are 575 seats in parliament so that pairs of presidential and vice presidential candidates in the 2024 presidential election must have at least 115 seats in the DPR RI. In addition, candidate pairs can also be promoted by political parties or a combination of political parties participating in the 2019 Election with a total valid vote acquisition of at least 34,992,703 votes.