Regional Elections to be Held on Schedule with Strict Health Protocols: Presidential Spokesperson

The 2020 Regional Elections (Pilkada).

The Indonesian Goverment has announced that the 2020 Regional Head Elections (Pilkada) will be held as scheduled on 9 December this year to ensure that people can exercise their constitutional rights , that is, the right to be voted and the right to vote.

“Pilkada must be held with strict health protocol and discipline accompanied by law enforcement and strict sanctions so that a new Pilkada cluster does not occur,” Presidential Spokesperson M. Fadjroel Rachman said in a release sent to the editorial team of setkab.go.id, Monday (21/9).

According to Fadjroel, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo emphasized that the Pilkada holding cannot wait until the unknown end of the pandemic. Therefore, he said that the holding of the Pilkada must follow strict health protocols for safety measures in the efforts to maintain democracy.

“Holding the elections amid the pandemic is not impossible. Other countries such as Singapore, Germany, France, and South Korea also hold general elections amid the pandemic. Of course, with the implementation of strict health protocols,” the Presidential spokesperson said.

The Government, according to Fadjroel, calls on all parties to work together to prevent the potential emergence of new clusters of COVID-19 at every stage of the elections.

“Based on Regulation of the General Elections Commission (PKPU) Number 6/2020, the holding of the 2020 Simultaneous Pilkada must implement health protocols regardless of the color of regional zoning. All related ministries and institutions have also intensified efforts to face the Pilkada in compliance with health protocols and law enforcement,” Fadjroel said.

This simultaneous regional elections, Fadjroel said, should be a momentum for the emergence of new ways and new innovations for the community together with state administrators to rise together and make the Pilkada an arena for brainstorming ideas, contesting actions to reduce and break the chain of the COVID-19 spread.

“At the same time, it will show the international community that Indonesia is a constitutional democracy and it maintains the sustainability of a democratic government system in accordance with the Pancasila state ideology and the 1945 Constitution,” he said. (Presidential Spokesperson Fadjroel/EN)

Translated by: Fairuzzamani Inayatillah
Reviewed by: Muhardi