The wave of protests that swept Indonesia over the past week has finally subsided after the government issued a new decision regarding regional head elections (Pilkada).
The government adhered to the decision of the Constitutional Court (MK) after the cancellation of the ratification of the revised Pilkada Law.
Commission II of the Indonesian House of Representatives held a hearing with the General Elections Commission (KPU), Bawaslu and government representatives on Sunday, August 25, 2024.
The meeting was sped up considering that there were mass waves in several regions urging the government to refer to the two Constitutional Court decisions to be ratified immediately.
For some information, at first, The Constitutional Court (MK) changed the threshold for regional head candidacy through Decision Number 60/PUU-XXII/2024, which was submitted by the Labor Party and Gelora Party. The Constitutional Court decided that the threshold for regional head candidacy is no longer 25 percent of the votes of a political party or a coalition of political parties from the previous legislative elections, or 20 percent of DPRD seats.
The day after the decision, the DPR and the government immediately held a meeting to discuss the revision of the Pilkada Law.
However, this decision to held a meeting has caused a wave of protests in Indonesia, which assumes that the government wants to change the nomination limit for regional heads so that President Jokowi’s youngest son can register in the DKI Jakarta regional head election.
In a new coverage by Kompas, Deputy Chairman of Commission II of the House of Representatives, Junimart Girsang, emphasized that they have included the 2 Constitutional Court decisions in the PKPU.
Junimart explained, there were 6 articles that were changed and included and their derivatives. The most important is related to political parties that have the right to register candidate pairs if they meet the vote acquisition requirements based on the Constitutional Court’s decision.
“The most crucial is the issue of political parties that are entitled to register candidate pairs if they have met the accumulated requirements for vote acquisition,” he said on Monday, 26 August 2024.
Moreover, the minimum age requirement for candidate pair registration in the regional elections. The PKPU has included the age requirement for registration based on the Constitutional Court’s decision.
“Regarding the requirement that candidates be at least 30 years old, 30 years for candidates for governor and 25 years for candidates for mayor and deputy mayor, including regent and deputy regent, as referred to in Article 14 paragraph 2 letter d as of the determination of candidate pairs,” he said.
Junimart said he deliberately emphasized this so that people could hear and no doubt, in the future. This decision also means that Jokowi’s youngest son that is 29 years old could not registered himself.
“I deliberately emphasize this so that the Indonesian people can hear and not doubt the election organizers, the government, let alone the DPR,” Junimart said.
Rupiah strengthens after polemics over regional head election regulations subside
The rupiah exchange rate against the United States dollar moved higher in early trading this week. The strengthening of the rupiah increased after the polemics over the Regional Head Election Draft Law (Pilkada) subsided.
On Monday, August 26, 2024, the rupiah exchange rate shot up 182 points or 1.17 per cent to 15,310 per US dollar from the previous 15,492 per US dollar.
“Political tensions subsided after the Indonesian House of Representatives (DPR) cancelled the revision of the Pilkada Law. As a result, the rupiah strengthened, followed by the performance of financial assets, namely stocks and bonds,” said Permata Bank Chief Economist Josua Pardede, as reported by ANTARA.
