Predominance of Uncontested Races Unstoppable

KOMPAS/FERGANATA INDRA RIATMOKO

A voter wearing a Spiderman costume holds up his inked finger after casting his ballot on Wednesday (27/6/2018) in the regional elections at TPS 1 polling station in Gayam village, Sukoharjo district, Sukoharjo Regency, Central Java. The costume was a way to invite the local people to vote for their regional head.

Dozens of sole candidates running in the 2020 regional elections will potentially secure an electoral victory. This creates widespread concern that in the future running as a sole candidate will be employed as a strategy to claim an easy win, which would tarnish democratic practices in the country.

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — Out of 25 sole candidates running in the 2020 regional elections, 24 have secured a large number of votes, far surpassing the votes for the “blank box”, a space on the ballot for voters who wish to reject sole candidates. If such a trend remains until the General Elections Commission (KPU) names the victors of the regional elections, it may be concluded that the tendency of sole candidates winning elections has strengthened. It is feared that this may lead to an increase in sole candidates in future regional elections, which would eventually erode democracy in Indonesia.

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As many as 25 candidate pairs ran uncontested in 25 regental/mayoral races across 12 provinces. According to data from the KPU’s real-time vote database, Sirekap, until 21:00 on Thursday (10/12/2020), 24 sole candidate pairs had secured more than 60 percent of the vote. The calculation was based on more than 50 percent of the ballots cast in the areas where the candidate pairs were running.

Meanwhile, uncertainties still surround the sole candidate pair running in West Papua’s Pegununang Arfak regency election, since not a single vote has been recorded in Sirekap.

In the 2015 elections, only three areas had sole candidate pairs running.

According to Kompas data, since the phenomenon of sole candidates first emerged in the 2015 regional elections, the number of sole candidates running in elections has continued to rise. In the 2015 elections, only three areas had sole candidate pairs running. The number then increased to nine areas in the 2017 regional elections and 16 areas in the 2018 regional elections.

Kompas/Heru Sri Kumoro

Live streaming statement from the commissioner of the General Elections Commission related to the anticipation of the spread of Covid-19 in the holding of the 2020 Regional Election at the Bawaslu Office, Jakarta, Tuesday (17/3/2020).

Out of the 16 regions with sole candidate pairs in 2018, the only candidate pair who lost was the one running in the Makassar mayoral race, which then led to another election in 2020.

The existence of these sole candidate pairs could harm democratic values, including that pertaining to inclusive and idea-based electoral competitions.

Associations for Elections and Democracy (Perlude) executive Titi Anggraini said on Thursday that the term democratic deficit or democratic erosion was very apt to portray the dominance of sole candidate pairs in regional elections. The existence of these sole candidate pairs could harm democratic values, including that pertaining to inclusive and idea-based electoral competitions.

Another concern of Titi is that the rising trend of sole candidate pairs winning elections may motivate political parties or prospective candidates to use uncontested races as a strategy to win regional elections. “This will bring a bad omen to the future of our democracy at the regional level,” said Titi.

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To prevent the use of uncontested races as a political strategy, Titi hopes that electoral nomination in future regional elections will provide more opportunities for prospective candidates. This could be done by erasing the mayoral and regental nomination threshold, holding regional elections simultaneously with the voting for regional legislative council (DPRD) members and lowering the threshold for public support of independent candidates.

Kompas/Hendra A Setyawan

A billboard for the success of the 2020 regional elections (Pikada 2020) is put on at Jalan Siliwangi, Pamulang, South Tangerang, Banten, on Sunday (6/9/2020). Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the simultaneous regional elections will be held on 9 Dec. 2020 instead of 23 Sept.2020 as initially planned.

Law No. 10/2016 on regional elections stipulates that the nomination threshold for candidates from political parties is 20 percent of the number of seats at the DPRD, or 25 percent of registered votes in a DPRD election. Meanwhile, for independent candidates, the threshold stands at approximately 6.5 to 10 percent of the total number of registered voters in the area where the candidates run for office.

Regeneration problem

Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) senior researcher Siti Zuhro said the increasing presence of sole candidate pairs indicated that political parties had not fully performed their functions, particularly in terms of political regeneration.

According to Siti, the failure of political regeneration was also apparent when parties chose their new leaders. A number of party leaders were elected by acclamation, leaving no space for democratic practices among party cadres.

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“Education on politics could not be carried out within parties. When it comes to competition, [party cadres] are indoctrinated that the most important thing is to win. Such an attitude prevails [among cadres] when they compete in elections. They resort to shortcuts by nominating a sole candidate pair with other parties,” said Siti.

ANTARA FOTO/SEPTIANDA PERDANA

Workers prepare electoral ballot boxes to be distributed at the North Sumatra General Elections Commission (KPU North Sumatra) logistics warehouse in Medan, North Sumatra, Friday (22/6/2018). KPU North Sumatra distributed ballots to 33 regencies and cities in North Sumatra province for the regional elections, which were held simultaneously on June 27.

Saan Mustopa, deputy chairman of House of Representatives Commission II from the NasDem Party, did not dismiss the speculation that the nomination of sole candidates had been used as a strategy to secure victory in regional elections. “Since the beginning, there has been a trend in which they (electoral candidates) want to achieve an easy win,” said Saan.

To prevent this phenomenon from recurring in the next regional elections, Saan agreed that the nomination threshold must be lowered.

Meanwhile, Ahmad Doli Kurnia, chairman of House of Representative Commission II from the Golkar Party, said the proposal to decrease the nomination threshold both in regional and presidential elections had emerged during the deliberation process of a bill to revise the 2017 General Elections Law, which is currently still under way at the House.

Cadres’ priority

In contrast, Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) secretary-general Hasto Kristiyanto dismissed the speculation over the use of sole candidacy as a strategy to win regional elections. In Semarang, for instance, Hendrar Prihadi, who took part in the 2020 Semarang mayoral race as a sole candidate, is deemed to have been successful in leading the municipality. His success prompted political parties to support his nomination.

KOMPAS/MEGANDIKA WICAKSONO

Masks and physical distancing are in short supply as supporters raise their arms to cheer M. Sulhan Fauzi and Zaini Makarim Supriyatno after the candidate pair registered at the Purbalingga General Elections Commission (KPU) on Sunday (6/9/2020) in Rembang, Purbalingga Central Java. The Oji-Zaini pair are running for Purbalingga regent and deputy regent in the 2020 simultaneous regional elections.

When the KPU gave additional time for candidate registration in areas where sole candidacy prevailed, the PDI-P used the extra time to strengthen its cadres. “This means that the PDI-P has the principle of using its constitutional rights to nominate electoral candidates,” said Hasto.

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Meanwhile, secretary of the Democratic Party’s campaign team, Kamhar Lakumani, said the widespread concern over democratic erosion due to the increasing number of sole candidates was understandable.

Kamhar argued that the requirement for sole candidates to achieve victory must be expanded. To win an election, it should not be enough for sole candidates to win a majority (50 percent plus 1 vote). Other requirements must be considered as well to strengthen sole candidates’ legitimacy.