Prolonged Burden for Sabu Raijua

Improvement of the citizenship data system and revision of the General Election Commission Regulations (PKPU) on candidacy are now urgently needed to ensure this does not happen again.

KOMPAS/DIAN DEWI PURNAMASARI

The elected regent of Sabu Raijua Regency, East Nusa Tenggara, Orient P Riwu Kore, answered questions from the panel of judges of the Constitutional Court panel of Suhartoyo during a dispute over the results of the regional elections for Sabu Raijua Regency, Monday (15/3/2021). Orient is present by teleconference.

KUPANG, KOMPAS — Still struggling to recover from Cyclone Seroja, Sabu Raijua regency in East Nusa Tenggara is now faced with another demanding and potentially finance-draining task ahead: it has to hold a reelection for a new regent.

The Constitutional Court (MK) canceled on Thursday (15/4) the election of Orient and Thobias Uly as Sabu Raijua’s regent and deputy regent respectively, because the former was found to hold United States citizenship, and was thus ruled ineligible to become a regency head.

While agreeing with the MK’s verdict, Johanes Tuba Helan, a lecturer in state administrative law, Nusa Cendana University, Kupang, sees prolonged burden for the regency.

Also read: Lesson from Orient Case

“The MK’s decision for a reelection means another burden for Sabu Raijua in the wake of Cyclone Seroja and the Covid-19 pandemic. The reelection will take quite a long time, drain energy and the regency’s finance,” he said.

With the people of Sabu Raijua still needing assistance for food and drink as well as homes to replace houses damaged by Cyclone Seroja, community elder Joe Rihi Ga hopes the reelection budget is apportioned from the state or provincial budget.

Also read: Orient’s Status Remains Unclear

The Sabu Raijua 2020 election absorbed Rp 15 billion while the budget plan for the re-election has yet to be made.

The Home Affairs Ministry’s director general for regional finance Mochamad Ardian Noervianto said they would have to check Sabu Raijua’s financial posture compared with the funding plan, and see how ready the regency would be for the poll.

KOMPAS/KORNELIS KEWA AMA

Sabu Raijua regent candidate Orient P Riwu Kore, Saturday (6/2/2021).

System improvement

Junimart Girsang, deputy chairperson of Commission II of the House of Representatives (DPR) from the PDI-P faction, blamed the election flop on a poor citizenship data system, which he said subsequently caused substantial losses to the people and government of Sabu Raijua now that they could not have a regency leader as immediately as expected while the administration would now have to dig deep yet again into its coffers.

Orient’s dual citizenship case, he added, must be the first and last, and a better system of citizenship data recording must be established by the government through the Home Affairs Ministry and the Law and Human Rights Ministry.

Candidate’s statement

In order to prevent a recurrence of the Orient case, the Network for Democracy and Electoral Integrity (Netgrit) founder Hadar Nafis Gumay suggested a revision to the PKPU by adding a clause requiring prospective candidates to provide a written statement of their Indonesian citizenship.

“The citizenship statement as one of the requirements for nomination will oblige the KPU to verify and ascertain that the candidates are telling the truth about their citizenship status,” he said.

Also read: Foreigner Wins Regional Election, Problem in Data Synergy

In the verification process, the KPU needs to cooperate with the Law and Human Rights Ministry and Foreign Affairs Ministry.

The KPU is looking into the MK’s ruling on Sabu Raijua as well Boven Digoel, which has also been instructed to hold a reelection, which, according to KPU member I Dewa Kade Wiarsa Raka Sandi, will be made as an input of consideration for the sake of improving the PKPU.

This article was translated by Musthofid.