Regional Head Elections By DPRD Sign Elite Wants New Order-style Sentralization

Photo Certificate: Illustration of centralization systems as in the New Order (Orba) era. (Special)

JAKARTA - Executive Director of LIMA, Ray Rangkuti, assessed that the proposal to restore the regional elections by the DPRD proves that there are still political elites who want to restore the centralization mechanism like in the New Order era.

I think our politicians are currently disturbed by the decentralization system. They want everything to be in one control, aka centralism. Secretly, Suharto's way of thinking is indeed rooted in our political elite," he said, Sunday, December 15, 2024.

According to him, the reason for the high cost of regional elections is actually inversely proportional to the amount of campaign funds for candidate pairs to report to election organizers. Therefore, the issue of regional elections is not actually on the cost side but the honesty of the political party elites.

The problem is no longer a matter of high cost but reports are not honest about the use of campaign funds. Because, first, there is no valid clue showing the cost of the election in question is expensive. If you look at the campaign funds report submitted to the KPUD, there is almost no strong signal that there is a very large cost incurred by the candidate pair, "explained Ray.

He emphasized that if it is true that the cost of regional elections is expensive, it does not lie in financing the implementation of local democratic parties. However, it is precisely in terms of political dowries that must be disbursed by candidate pairs in order to get the blessing and forward ticket to contestation from political parties.

Moreover, candidate pairs who have spent dowry are certainly reluctant to end up in vain. Therefore, when competing in the elections, they often justify any means, including buying votes, either dawn attacks on voters or collusion with the organizers.

"This means that the problem is not in the system, but in behavior. The candidate pair is chased by the desire to win not because they want an honest and fair competition. Because the sound is allegedly bought, the boat is paid, the organizer is bribed. In this case, the problem is not at an expensive cost but at the governance and morality of the party in carrying the candidate pair, "concluded Ray.