Hamdan Zoelva: Jakarta Governor Elected By President Of Democratic Resignation

Chairman of the AMIN National Team Expert Council, Hamdan Zoelva in Jakarta, Thursday 7 December 2023. (ANTARA-Khaerul Iza)

JAKARTA - Chairman of the Expert Council of the National Team for Winning Anies Baswedan-Muhaimin Iskandar (Timnas Amin) Hamdan Zoelva said the article in the Special Region Jakarta Bill (RUU DKJ) which regulates the Governor of Jakarta and his Deputy elected by the President of the Republic of Indonesia is a setback for democracy.

"This really provides a very strong conclusion, that democracy is receding and this should not happen," said Hamdan, who is also the former Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court (MK) in Jakarta, Thursday, December 7, was confiscated by Antara.

Zoelva said the DKJ Bill discussed in the House of Representatives (DPR) was a setback for democracy in Indonesia which had been built for a long time.

According to him, Jakarta is the most important city in Indonesia so that the DKJ Bill needs to be fought and opposed so that democracy does not back down.

He added that when the governor is appointed directly by the president, the regional head will submit to the president. That way, the governor has no strong relationship with the community.

"If the governor is not elected by the people only appointed by the president, he depends on the president's command and staying away from the people is very dangerous," he said.

Zoelva said that if the article on the appointment of governor directly by the president was ratified, it would be a history full of problems. In fact, even in the New Order era, the election for governor was not directly determined by the president.

Zoelva requested that the DKJ Bill be reviewed, so that democracy in Indonesia does not experience a severe setback.

"This has only happened, as long as the new order never happened, the governor in the Suharto government was proposed by the DPRD and there are three people, now this is the first time in our history we have thoughts on appointing a governor. This is a big problem," he said.

Minister of Home Affairs (Mendagri) Tito Karnavian previously said that the DKJ Bill related to the appointment of governors and deputy governors by the president was an initiative of the DPR.

Tito explained that the appointment of governors and deputy governors by the president was stated in Article 10 of the DKJ Bill. The bill is still in the form of a draft agreed by the DPR, but has not yet been submitted to the government, in this case the Ministry of Home Affairs.

Tito emphasized that the government does not agree with the points conveyed by the DPR through the DKJ Bill. Although Jakarta will no longer have the status of the state capital, the regional head election mechanism will be carried out through the regional elections.

"The government wants there to be a regional election to elect the Governor of Jakarta in order to respect the principles of democracy that have been going on, so it has not changed, there is no appointment. What will be the case in the DPR, we will see together," said Tito.