Joko Calls for Emergency Meeting on Possible Elections Postponement
Jakarta. President Joko Widodo called for an emergency consultation meeting with senior officials from the executive, legislative and judiciary branches on Wednesday to ward off a looming postponement of elections in a number of districts and cities across the country.
Two cities and five districts have only registered one candidate each to contest the elections in December. However, the law on regional elections prohibits contests with only one candidate, meaning they will have to wait until the next round of elections in 2017.
The number could still grow as the General Elections Commission (KPU) is still verifying documents submitted by some 700 candidates vying for this year's elections on Dec. 9. The KPU has in the past disqualified many candidates for falsifying documents, including school diplomas.
Experts and politicians have expressed concerns that postponing the elections could lead to a leadership void in the affected regions.
The president on Tuesday met with leaders of the KPU, the Elections Supervisory Commission (Bawaslu) and the Elections Honors Council (DKPP) to discuss the matter, and a number of options have been formulated, said chief security minister Tedjo Edhy Purdijatno.
On Wednesday, Joko called for a consultation meeting with some cabinet members as well as leaders of several legislative and judiciary agencies to discuss options.
Among those attending the meeting were House of Representatives Speaker Setya Novanto, People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) Speaker Zulkifli Hasan, Constitutional Court Chief Justice Arief Hidayat, and Supreme Court Chief Justice Muhammad Hatta.
Wednesday's meeting, held at the Bogor presidential palace just south of the capital, is expected to come up with a solution to the problem, with a final decision expected as early as Wednesday evening.
"There are many options," Tedjo said. "We could extend the registration period, we could stick to postponing the elections, and then there's the option of [issuing] a perppu."
A perppu refers to a government regulation in lieu of law, issued only issued during an emergency to temporarily override existing laws. The House can veto a perppu or make the changes permanent six months after it is passed.
Home Affairs Minister Tjahjo Kumolo said the government had drawn up a draft for a possible perppu, but stressed that it would be used as a last resort.
It is not clear what the perppu would say, but Tjahjo hinted the government might scrap provisions in the regional elections law which require an election to be postponed if there is only one candidate.
"In principle, even lone candidates must have their political rights protected. If we postpone [the elections], who can guarantee there will be two candidates in 2017?" he said.
"There are suggestions that [lone candidates] should be automatically named the winner but I don't think that's fair either. It's up to the president. We're just preparing the draft."
House Speaker Setya, however, disagreed that the president should issue a perppu, arguing that its emergency nature could have legal and political implications on the affected regional governments in the long term.
"The House must weigh in on the perppu. If lawmakers endorse [the perppu] then there's no problem. But if they don't and the perppu is rejected, the implications would include an annulment [of the election results]," he said.
MPR Speaker Zulkifli said the best option would be for the House to revise the law on regional elections. "I think there is enough time," he said.
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