Deputy Chairman Of Commission II Of The DPR Assesses That The Pilkada Needs A New Format That Does Not Have To Be Uniform In Various Regions

Illustration. (Irfan Meidianto/VOI)

Deputy Chairman of Commission II of the DPR RI, Yanuar Prihatin, believes that it is necessary to find a format for the implementation of regional head elections (pilkada) that does not have to be uniform in various regions, one of which is to reduce political pragmatism. He gave an example for the election of governor/deputy governors to be held in the provincial DPRD, because the governor is also an extension of the central government, not just regional heads. "Don't forget that regional autonomy is in districts/cities, not at the provincial level. So governors/deputy governors are more suitable to be elected by the DPRD," said Yanuar, in Jakarta, quoted from Antara, Saturday, October 15. However, he assessed that to reduce pragmatism in the election for governor/deputy governor in the DPRD, the involvement of the central government must exist. According to him, the provincial DPRD only proposed two or three pairs of candidates, then the president decided. "This method is also to answer the problem of lost coordination about development priorities between the center and the regions," he said. Yanuar explained that for the election of regents/mayors, it is better to just open the asymmetric option, so that there are districts/cities that have direct regional elections but some go through the DPRD. According to him, regional elections must be carried out asymmetrically in accordance with regional conditions, national development targets, and regional autonomy models that must be reviewed. "All of these choices must have conditions and measures that can be accepted by all parties. And this must be discussed in depth between the government and the DPR, as well as other stakeholders," he said again. He said specifically the discourse related to the new format in the implementation of the regional elections had not been discussed by Commission II of the DPR with the government and election organizers. However, according to Yanuar, the discourse is often mentioned by members of Commission II of the DPR and the Minister of Home Affairs (Mendagri) in several Working Meetings at Commission II of the DPR.