OVER 700 TICKETS TO PARTICIPATE IN SIMULTANEOUS REGIONAL HEAD ELECTIONS by Fardah

   Jakarta, July 30, 2015 (Antara)-   The Indonesian government is scheduled to hold simultaneous regional head elections (Pilkada) on December 9, 2015, to elect governors in nine provinces, district heads in 224 districts, and mayors in 36 cities.

        Indonesia has 34 provinces, 420 districts, and 94 cities. A province is headed by a governor, a district by a district head, and a city by a mayor, according to data published in early 2014.

        The first round of the registration period for regional head candidates took place in 269 regions across Indonesia on July 26-28, 2015, and has run smoothly and peacefully, in general.

       The General Election Commission (KPU), as the executor of the elections, received 705 pairs of candidates contesting for the regional head elections during the three-day registration period.

          Of the total, 576 tickets are supported by political parties, and 129 tickets are independent candidates. Of the total candidates, 650 are men and 55 women.

         However, this data is subject to change, KPU Chairman Husni Kamil Manik informed the press on July 29, 2015, while expressing relief that the registration process ran smoothly.

        "In general, it has run well," Manik informed the media.

         All the 12 existing political parties, including the Golkar and PPP, which are still facing internal rivalries, have submitted the names of their candidates, he stated.  
    On an average, each region has two to three candidates for contesting in the regional head elections, which will be organized simultaneously on December 9, 2015.

           "The largest number of candidates is in Pematang Siantar municipality, North Sumatra, which has 10 tickets, comprising four independent tickets and six supported by political parties," he revealed.

          However, he pointed out that an incident had occurred in Manggarai District, East Nusa Tenggara Province, wherein a mob had forced the local election commission office to accept the registration of a certain pair of candidates although they came late.

          The local KPU accepted the pair, but their registration depends on the final decision of the central KPU, Manik stated.

         Besides this, 12 of the total 269 regions, which are going to hold Pilkada, have only one ticket or none at all.

         "The 12 regions are Asahan District in North Sumatra; Serang District in Banten; Tasikmalaya District in West Java; Surabaya Municipality and Blitar District in East Java; Purbalingga District in Central Java; Pacitan District in East Java; South Minahasa District in North Sulawesi; Mataram city, Samarinda city, and Timur Tengah Utara District in East Nusa Tenggara; and East Bolaang Mongondow District in North Sulawesi," KPU Senior Commissioner Ferry Kurnia stated.

         In fact, East Bolaan Mongondow District has no candidate at all.

         Several candidates failed to register themselves as the KPU has imposed stricter conditions for those intending to contest in Pilkada.  
   Based on KPU's regulations, politicians need to be nominated by a party, or a coalition of parties, that controls at least 20 percent of the seats in the regional council or 25 percent of the valid votes in the 2014 regional election.

         Political candidates must also get approval from the central board of their political party, whereas during the previous elections, they only required the approval of the regional board.

          However, there is still a likelihood of the other candidates meeting the conditions as in accordance with KPU's Circular No. 403/2015 issued on July 25, those regions that have less than two tickets could implement another round of registration for three days, on August 1-3, 2015.
   If any of the 12 regions fail to have at least two tickets, they will have to postpone the implementation of the regional head elections scheduled on December 9, 2015, to February 2017, the second phase of Pilkada.

         Home Affairs Minister Tjahjo Kumolo expressed optimism that with another round of registration period being given to the regional head candidates, 12 regions would finally have at least two tickets.

           "There is still time for the regional head candidates to register themselves in the second round of the registration period," Kumolo stated on July 29.

         With elections being simultaneously held in several regions, the risk of conflicts erupting is high, particularly due to protests by those candidates failing in the race and suspecting irregularities in the implementation of the election process.

        Therefore, several parties are applying pressure on the government and the KPU, in particular, to make improvements to prevent potential problems, including security issues.
      Moreover, on July 13, 2015, the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) reported to the parliament regarding the 10 results of its inspection on the planned implementation of the Pilkada.

            The audit was conducted following a request put forth by Commission II of the House of Representatives (DPR) to the BPK in May.

            The BPK found that the budget allocation for the local elections was not in line with the existing regulations; Regional Grant Agreement documents on the Pilkada had either not been prepared in several regions or were not in accordance with the regulations; and the plan on the utilization of Pilkada's grant budget was not compliant with the existing regulations, among other things.

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(T.F001/A/BESSR/A. Abdussalam) 30-07-2015 17:44:59