Ahead Of The 2020 Pilkada, Bawaslu Asks Regional Heads Not To Be Chair Of The COVID-19 Handling Task Force

Illustrations (Irfan Meidianto / VOI)

JAKARTA - The Election Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu) has asked regional heads who will advance in the 2020 Pilkada no longer serve as Chair of the Task Force for the Acceleration of Handling COVID-19 in the regions.

Head of Bawaslu Abhan said that this appeal needed to be applied so that incumbent candidates did not take advantage of the COVID-19 event to smooth their steps during the regional elections.

"In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, is it possible for regional heads, right, right now, they are currently the ex-officio Head of the Task Force. Is it possible that this ex-officio was not held by the incumbent regional head or directed to the Regional Secretary who did not run for office?" Abhan said in the webinar agenda which was broadcast on YouTube, Tuesday, June 16.

According to him, this must be done so that prospective incumbents do not take advantage of government assistance for people affected by COVID-19 to boost their electability.

Moreover, Bawaslu assessed that the incumbent candidate is very likely to take advantage of the midwifery situation to seek sympathy from the residents. For example, by affixing their face stickers without the uniforms of the regional head on the government aid that will be distributed.

"There are picture stickers (incumbent candidates) who are not wearing the clothes of the regional head and they happen to have received recommendations from political parties," said Abhan.

Although he did not mention the location of the incident, this is one of the problems that could harm potential newcomers.

So, he asked, the incumbents did not take advantage of the situation and COVID-19 assistance for the practical political interests of the 2020 Pilkada.

"I think the incumbent has got a lot of access, yes, compared to newcomers. I think we have to be fair in the implementation of the 2020 Pilkada stages," he said.

On different occasions, Abhan has mentioned the potential for fraud in the regional elections which will be held on December 9.

This led Bawaslu to monitor the political movements of regional heads who returned to contest the regional elections as incumbent candidates.

He reminded that incumbent regional heads, both mayors, regents, and governors in 270 regions that will carry out regional elections are prohibited from mutating or changing regional ASN officials for the remaining period of their leadership.

"We appeal to incumbent prospective candidates not to transfer positions from March 23 to 6 months prior to the appointment of a candidate pair," Abhan said in a virtual press conference, Monday, June 15.

This prohibition is contained in Law Number 10 of 2016 concerning Pilkada. Article 71 Paragraph (2) mandates that the governor or deputy governor, regent or deputy regent, and mayor or deputy mayor are prohibited from making changes to officials 6 months before the date of determination of the pair of candidates until the end of the term of office unless written approval from the minister is obtained.

"For regional heads who violate, the threat can be administrative sanctions and disqualification," said Abhan.

Previously, the Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs (Menko Polhukam) Mahfud MD claimed that many regional heads agreed that the 2020 Pilkada would still be held on December 9 even though the COVID-19 event was still happening.

"According to our monitor, almost all of the regional heads agree. Yes, there are 1, 2 (who disagree), that's normal. But if you look at the percentage, more than 2/3 are excited to be implemented immediately," Mahfud said in his statement, Thursday, 11 June.

He is aware that the implementation of the 2020 Pilkada in the early morning period is a controversy in the community. However, this is considered something normal.

Therefore, Mahfud asked all parties to think positively about the implementation of this pilkada. "If everyone thinks well, in my opinion, it will not lead to conflict in the end," he said.

Mahfud MD explained that the regional head election could not possibly be postponed for reasons of mid-week. Because, no one can confirm the end of this COVID-19 outbreak.

"If we wait when the corona is finished, no one knows when it will be finished," he said.

He added that the implementation of the elections on December 9 had been agreed upon by the General Election Commission (KPU) as an independent organizer, the Indonesian Parliament, and the government.

Moreover, the pilkada needs to be implemented immediately in order to ensure that regional governments can continue to work effectively.

"If it continues to postpone when it will be completed, that will be the government of all Acting (Acting). For all of them, they cannot take certain steps that are needed by the daily government," he said.

"Therefore, on 9 December, simultaneous regional elections will be held according to the mutually agreed schedule," added the former Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court (MK).