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Election dates set to allow enough time for preparation
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An election official helps a voter with a disability submit a simulated vote in a practice run for the 2020 regional elections at a polling station in front of the General Elections Commission (KPU) headquarters in Jakarta on July 22.
(JP/Dhoni Setiawan)
T
he country will vote for its next president on Feb. 14, 2024, the government has announced, after the executive, lawmakers and election organizers came to a long-awaited consensus on the polling date.
They have also agreed to host the regional elections for governors, mayors and regents on Nov. 27, 2024.
The General Elections Commission (KPU) had favored the Feb. 14 and Nov. 27 dates since discussions with lawmakers and the executive began in September of last year, along with a possible alternative general election date of Feb. 21. The proposed dates were intended to allow February election disputes to be resolved – and possible runoffs to be held – before candidates registered for the November elections.
But the discussions dragged on for months, as policymakers were divided over the matter.
“We have finally managed to reach an agreement on what the Indonesian people have been waiting for,” said Golkar Party lawmaker and House of Representatives Commission II chair Ahmad Doli Kurnia at the conclusion of the Monday meeting that decided the dates.
The executive, represented in the discussions by Home Minister Tito Karnavian, had insisted on moving the national election closer to the regional elections in May, citing political stability and security concerns. Four of the nine House party factions, including the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), the biggest faction in the ruling coalition and the party of which President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo is a member, opposed the government’s proposed May general election date, siding with the KPU instead.
Read also: House delays decision on election dates, again
