One Year Left for General Elections

From this day, it is only one year until the holding of “five-box” general election. Political parties participating in the general election scheduled for 14 Feb. 2024 have started readying their candidates.

KOMPAS/HENDRA A SETYAWAN

Simulation activities for voting and counting of votes for the 2024 election at the General Elections Commission office, Jakarta, Tuesday (22/3/2022).

JAKARTA, KOMPAS – From this day, Tuesday (14/2/2023), it is only one year until the holding of “five-box” general election. Its preparations covering three key aspects, which are organizers, participants and voters, are being expedited.

In terms of organizers, the General Elections Commission (KPU) has formed ad hoc bodies to the district and subdistrict levels. With regard to participants, in December 2022, the KPU determined 18 national political parties and six political parties in Aceh as participants of the 2024 general election (Pemilu).

The candidates’ avowal of minimum support to meet the requirement for contesting the Regional Representative Council (DPD) election is also been underway.

Political parties participating in the general election scheduled for 14 Feb. 2024 have started readying their candidates to compete for a total of 20,462 seats at the House of Representatives (DPR), provincial legislative councils (DPRDs) and regency/municipal DPRDs. Political parties that had taken part in the Pemilu 2019 have been building electoral alliances to fulfill the minimum presidential nomination threshold.

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On Sunday (12/2/2023), the KPU initiated the stage of matching and checking voter data to update them. Until 14 March 2023, the data updating committee will be visiting prospective voters door to door to match the data with facts gathered from the field.

KPU Chairman Hasyim Asy’ari said the commission was optimistic that the Pemilu 2024 would run according to plan, in light of the various stages that had been carried out in 2022.

So far, the legal framework had held up relatively well. “In the one year leading up to election day, the implementation of the stages of Pemilu 2024 is on track,” he said in Jakarta on Monday (13/2/2024).

In the one year leading up to election day, the implementation of the stages of Pemilu 2024 is on track.

Besides ascertaining that the stages of the simultaneous elections had been realized as scheduled, Hasyim noted that on entering this year. the President had transferred to the KPU the list on the general election budget realization for the 2023 fiscal year. The KPU was also setting up ad hoc bodies abroad, updating data and compiling lists on domestic and overseas voters, forming teams to select members for the provincial and regency/municipal KPUs, and determining constituencies and their quota of seats.

Under KPU Regulation No. 3/2022 on the stages and schedules of Pemilu 2024, this year’s stages include the registration of all legislative candidates from 24 April to 25 Nov. and the registration of presidential and vice presidential candidates from 19 Oct. to 25 Nov.

KOMPAS/RONY ARIYANTO NUGROHO

KPU chairman Hasyim Asyari when handing over serial number placards to representatives of political party leaders participating in the 2024 Election in Jakarta, Wednesday (14/12/2022). In this event, 17 political parties and 6 local political parties in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam participate in the determination of serial numbers in the 2024 election.

Political parties’ moves

Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) Deputy secretary-general Arif Wibowo said the party would be monitoring the general election to ensure it was conducted according to the stages and schedules as stipulated. Arif added that a full year before the peak of the election stages, the PDI-P had prepared for the stages in order to achieve a hat trick in the Pemilu 2024.

While firmly rejecting the idea of postponing the general election, the PDI-P was still anticipating potential regulatory changes as the stages progressed. One was a potential change in the electoral system from an open proportional system, the regulation on which was being reviewed by the Constitutional Court.

Ace Hasan Syadzily, the chairman of the Golkar Party central board, said his party continued to follow its plan to achieve the targeted 20 percent of votes in the Pemilu 2024. In 2022, Golkar had engaged in consolidating the party across the provincial, regency/municipal, and district levels to the village level for consistent structural renewal.

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In addition, Golkar had also created a list of functionaries who were preparing to contest the legislative elections, their number totaling 200 percent of the seats available in each constituency. This year, the prospective legislative candidates were being asked to engage in public communication to disseminate information on the party’s election number, make themselves known to the public and promote Golkar general chairman Airlangga Hartarto as a presidential nominee.

Political parties currently without legislative seats have also started preparing for the elections. Indonesian Solidarity Party (PSI) secretary-general Dea Tunggaesti said the party was focusing on its legislative candidates this year. The PSI had set a target across the administrative levels of around 22,000 legislative candidates, a tenfold increase compared to the 2,200 candidates it had put forth in the Pemilu 2019.

Executive Director Khoirunnisa Nur Agustyati of the Association of General Elections and Democracy said the preparations being undertaken by election participants and organizers indicated that they were ready to execute the five-yearly elections as regulated by the Constitution. Each had been performing their tasks and functions to enable the general election to be held according to the fixed schedule in line with the elements of a direct, general, free, secret, honest and justice elections as per the law.

This article was translated by Aris Prawira.