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Sole candidates harm political parties
Despite being legally accommodated, the phenomenon of sole candidate elections constitutes an irony of democracy. Simply put, the phenomenon evinces the failure of political parties to provide a competitive channel for local elections.
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All ready -- A resident casts ballot in a voting booth during an election simulation at Cempaka Putih Sports Stadium in Jakarta on Feb.7. (Antara/Aprillio Akbar)
O
f the 93 regencies and cities that will hold elections on Feb. 15, nine will see only one candidate pair running, although this does not necessarily mean they will go unchallenged.
In the regencies of Buton, Southeast Sulawesi, West Tulang Bawang in Lampung, Pati, Central Java, Landak in West Kalimantan, Tambraw, West Papua, and the cities of Tebing Tinggi in North Sumatra, Sorong, West Papua, Jayapura in Papua and Central Maluku in Maluku, the sole candidates will compete with the blank box on election day. According to regulations, the General Elections Commission (KPU) will declare them the winners if they manage to secure more than 50 percent of the valid votes. If the sole candidates fail, the KPU will rerun the elections with the next simultaneous regional elections in 2018.
The phenomenon of sole candidate pairs also occurred in the 2015 simultaneous local elections last December in Blitar, East Java, Tasikmalaya in West Java and North Timor Tengah in East Nusa Tenggara. The Constitutional Court (MK) allowed sole candidates to contest the election for the posts of governor, regent and mayor to respect the constitutional rights of voters.
Despite being legally accommodated, the phenomenon of sole candidate elections constitutes an irony of democracy. Simply put, the phenomenon evinces the failure of political parties to provide a competitive channel for local elections.
In the nine aforementioned regions, for instance, the sole candidates accumulated support from the majority of political parties and left no support for other aspirants. In Pati regency, for instance, the pair of Haryanto-Saiful Arifin were nominated by a coalition of parties that together accounted for 46 of the 50 seats in the local legislature. The electoral threshold for regional elections is 20 percent of legislative seats.
Though sole candidate elections are legal and acceptable, they are clearly largely uncompetitive. Political parties should evaluate this phenomenon.
Multiple candidates create a space for a competition of concepts, ideas and discourses. The more candidates, the more stages to test the capacity and capability of candidates, which is highly preferable because voters want the best to win.
