Minister Of Home Affairs Concerning The DKJ Bill: The Government Still Wants The Governor To Be Elected Through The Pilkada

Minister of Home Affairs (Mendagri) Tito Karnavian in the discussion "What's Up with Special Jakarta" in Menteng, Central Jakarta, Tuesday (19/12/2023). BETWEEN/Siti Nurhaliza

JAKARTA - Minister of Home Affairs (Mendagri) Tito Karnavian agreed if the mechanism for determining governors and deputy governors is through the regional head elections (pilkada).

"We still agree with the regional elections, but we still listen to article 10, that's the reason, what kind of argument is to answer, but our position remains the regional election as it has been going on so far," Tito said in the discussion "What's Up with the Special Region of Jakarta" in Menteng, Central Jakarta, reported by ANTARA, Tuesday, December 19.

Tito said that the draft Jakarta Special Region Bill (RUU DKJ) from the government related to the appointment of governors and deputy governors did not change the election mechanism, meaning that it would continue through the regional elections.

The appointment of governors and deputy governors by the President is 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 been submitted to the government, in this case the Ministry of Home Affairs and will first be heard the reasons from the DPR.

"So I really want to emphasize that the government draft has never tampered with the recruitment mechanism, it remains in the current position and previously the governor was elected through the regional elections as much as 50 percent plus one, that's the winner," explained Tito.

In the discussion, Tito mentioned the government's reason for wanting a regional election to elect the Governor of Jakarta in order to respect the principles of democracy that have been going on.

"If the Regent and Mayor are still appointed, I emphasize that, it's up to me, it's up to anyone who thinks otherwise later from the DPR, we've heard it, it's not a closed discussion, everyone can see it," said Tito.

It is known that the DKJ Bill was agreed to be the proposal for the DPR's initiative in the DPR plenary meeting for the Second Session of the 2023-2024 Session Year on Tuesday (5/12).

Tito said that based on the information he had received, the Draft Bill for Jakarta had been signed by the DPR to be submitted to the government. So, currently the government is in a position waiting for the draft DKJ Bill to be submitted back to the government and discussed further.

"So remember, Jakarta is different from other provinces, Jakarta has a mechanism like the presidential election, so the winner must be 50 percent plus one if there are four pairs of candidates (paslon) it can be the highest two rounds and must be 50 percent plus one," said Tito.

Acting Governor of DKI Jakarta Heru Budi Hartono is optimistic that the draft of the Special Jakarta Regional Law (RUU DKJ) will not change something that is already good, especially when it is a special area for the capital city (DKI).

Heru on Tuesday (5/12), ensured that Jakarta's future fate would be fine because there were no fundamental changes related to the particularity of Jakarta in the draft.

"Before there was a new draft, Jakarta had become the center of the national economy. Yes, it's good that Jakarta's fate, Jakarta's facilities are sufficient, transportation is good enough, the economic system is good. I think it can still attract investment and economic growth, hopefully it can be positive," said Heru.