A

number of Regional General Elections Commissions (KPUD) have extended the registration period for political party-endorsed candidates to nominate for the upcoming regional elections. The regions in question had seen fewer than two tickets register for the elections as of Tuesday, the final day of the official registration period.

On Tuesday, the Surabaya KPUD in East Java decided to extend the registration deadline for the city'€™s mayoral election after receiving only one pair of candidates sign up '€” incumbent Mayor Tri '€œRisma'€ Rismaharini and running mate Whisnu Sakti Buana.

'€œWe will extend the deadline because as of Tuesday at 4 p.m. [...] only one pair of candidates had registered,'€ KPUD head Robiyan Arifin said at a press conference.

Robiyan said the KPUD would hold another registration period from Aug. 1 to 3.

This extension would not, she said, disrupt the stages of the city'€™s mayoral election, which will still be held concurrently with 268 other regional elections on Dec. 9.

On Tuesday, Risma and Whisnu, nominated by the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), the country'€™s largest political party, underwent the KPUD-sanctioned medical examinations despite the KPUD'€™s decision to extend the registration period.

The North Central Timor KPUD in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) made a similar move after only running mates Raymundus Fernandez and Aloysius Kobes signed up to participate in the regional election.

'€œUntil the registration deadline on July 28 at 4 p.m., only one pair of candidates registered. Another two pairs had earlier taken registration forms but did not return the forms,'€ local KPUD head Felix Bere Nahak said.

Under the General Elections Commission (KPU) Regulation No. 12/2015, a KPUD can extend their registration period if they have fewer than two tickets running.

'€œIf there are not enough candidates in a region, we can run another round of registrations between Aug. 1 and Aug. 3. If there are still not enough candidates we have no option but to delay that regions election until Feb. 2017,'€ KPU commissioner Hadar Nafis Gumay said on Monday.

In cases where regions do not have enough candidates as a result of some hopefuls not having passed the selection process, the KPUD will hold another three-day registration.

In South Sulawesi, several relatives of Governor Syahrul Yasin Limpo have registered as candidates for regional elections.

Syahrul'€™s younger sister Tenri Olle and her running mate Khairil Muin, for example, have registered to contest the Gowa regency ballot. Lutfi Halide, whose child is married to Syahrul'€™s child, meanwhile, signed up on Tuesday as a candidate for the Soppeng regency ballot.

Across the country in North Sumatra, the number of candidates contesting many regional elections has declined from numbers five years ago.

In the provincial capital of Medan, for example, only two pairs of candidates are signed up for the upcoming mayoral election, compared to 10 pairs five years ago.

Political observer from the state University of North Sumatra Agus Suryadi said the Medan mayoral election this year would be the most uninteresting in history. He argued that not only were there only two candidate pairs, but those candidates were unable to attract the attention of the public in Medan.
___________________________

Apriadi Gunawan in Medan and Andi Hajramurni in Makassar contributed to the article.