T

he government is bracing itself to issue a government regulation in lieu of law (Perppu) that will regulate regions that have a single ticket running in the December elections.

Issuing the regulation, however, will be a last resort should no additional candidates register in the regions that currently only have one ticket or no candidates at all.

The General Elections Commission (KPU) recorded over the weekend that there were 11 regions facing the single-ticket conundrum. The number may rise if tickets get canceled during the verification process by the KPU.

'€œWe will see [until Aug. 3]. The government is ready with the Perppu [draft] and may issue the regulation if necessary,'€ said Law and Human Rights Minister Yasonna H. Laoly over the weekend.

KPU head Husni Kamil Manik said it would be up to the government to issue the decree, but the election committee had stipulated in its election regulations (PKPU) that regions with only single tickets would have their elections delayed until 2017.

Experts have criticized political parties for their lack of preparation ahead of Indonesia'€™s first simultaneous regional elections, evidenced by the emergence of the single-ticket phenomenon.

According to Nico Harjanto, a political analyst with the Jakarta-based pollster Populi Center, the emergence of several regions with a sole candidate pair running for offices shows that parties are not well-prepared to partake in the elections.

The KPU has recorded that out of the total 269 regions slated to host regional elections, 12 regions have a sole ticket contesting, with another region '€” East Bolaang Mongondow in North Sulawesi '€” with no registered candidates as of Friday night. Additionally, 86 regions have two tickets head-to-head, while 150 regions have three to four pairs in the race.

Serang regency in Banten was taken off the critical list on Saturday as another ticket had registered to compete in the election.

'€œPolitical parties seem to lack of planning,'€ Nico told reporters during a discussion in Central Jakarta on Saturday.

If parties were committed to the democratic process, Nico added, there should be no reason for their political elites to not support a formidable election ticket.

He also did not believe that the KPU'€™s administrative requirements posed a challenge for parties and urged them to act to ensure the successful regeneration of regional heads nationwide.

'€œThe candidacy requirements stipulated by law are a product of politicians [in government or the legislative body] safeguarding their own interests,'€ Nico said.

Contacted separately on Saturday, Constitution and Democracy (CoDe) Initiative chairman Veri Junaidi said that parties had failed in their attempt to prepare their best talent to fill public service roles.

Veri said political dynamics had overshadowed technical aspects of the debate, arguing that existing election regulations had been designed with the single-ticket conundrum in mind.

'€œWhat comes up is not a matter of law or regulation, but politics '€” leading people to engage in a tug-of-war of personal stakes, such as pushing through a Perppu to benefit an incumbent,'€ he told The Jakarta Post.

Democratic Party lawmaker Didi Irawadi Syamsuddin said he supported the notion of government intervention through the issuance of a Perppu, arguing that the postponement of an election '€” and the resulting appointment of an acting regional head '€” would '€œinjure the democratic process'€ and prevent reform from being undertaken in the regions involved.

National Mandate Party (PAN) lawmaker Viva Yoga Mauladi said that the regulations contained loopholes that politicians could use to sabotage the stakes of popular candidates, such as the use of '€œpuppet candidates'€ to wrest away votes that would otherwise safeguard a definitive win.

KPU commissioner Ida Budhiati countered both arguments by saying that election organizers and participants both had stakes in the successful hosting of the December elections, saying that it would be wiser to revise any shortcomings in the next election period.