Reject The Governor Appointed By The President, PAN Also Encourages The Mayor To Be Elected Through The Regional Head Election After Jakarta Is No Longer The Capital City

Secretary General of the National Mandate Party (Sekjen PAN) Eddy Soeparno at the Metro Jaya Police Headquarters/PHOTO: Rizky Adytia-VOI

JAKARTA - The National Mandate Party (PAN) firmly rejects the Draft Draft Law on the Special Region of Jakarta (DKJ) which regulates that the Governor and Deputy Governor of Jakarta are appointed and dismissed by the President. PAN Party Secretary General Eddy Soeparno said his party actually encouraged the mayor and regent to be elected through the regional head elections (Pilkada) after Jakarta was no longer the capital. According to Eddy, Jakarta should not eliminate the democratic rights of citizens. “ There is absolutely no urgency to eliminate or reduce democratic values in Jakarta. The governor of Jakarta should get the full mandate of the people and work fully for the people who choose it, not to the superior who appoints it,” said Eddy in his statement to reporters, Friday, December 8. “Justru after later Jakarta will no longer be the capital city, we encourage the rights of citizens to be expanded. One of them is that the Mayor and Regent in Jakarta are directly elected and no longer appointed by the Governor. This is to strengthen legitimacy while ensuring the full sovereignty of Jakarta residents towards its leader,” he continued. The Deputy Chairman of Commission VII of the DPR RI assessed that the specificity of Jakarta should be formulated definitively not in the context of changing the election of the governor. Rather, his status and role after he will no longer be the capital city.

"This specificity status is like, for example, a business center such as the separation of New York and Washington DC and for example, a special economic area such as the separation of Beijing and Shanghai," explained Eddy. "Through clear special status, Jakarta will still have a significant contribution to national development," he added.