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Policymakers consider Perppu to redraw Papua's electoral districts
Policymakers are debating how to redraw the electoral districts in the three new Papuan provinces ahead of the 2024 elections and seem to be leaning in favor of a presidential regulation, which goes against expert views, especially on election principles.
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Election officials carry ballot boxes to a helicopter at Wamena Airport in Jayawijaya, Papua, for transporting to Yalimo regency during preparations for the 2019 elections. (Antara/Yusran Uccang)
P
olicymakers are considering ditching an option to revise the General Elections Law in favor of a regulation in lieu of law (Perppu) to redraw the electoral districts in the three new Papuan provinces ahead of the 2024 elections, a move that critics say leaves the public out of the already opaque lawmaking process.
In late June, the House of Representatives unanimously passed a set of bills that divided Papua province into four provinces with the addition of South Papua, Central Papua and the Papua Highlands, ignoring critics who feared that doing so would give the central government more power over the resource-rich region.
Not long after the creation of the three new provinces, lawmakers announced another plan to carve out two new provinces in West Papua: Southwest Papua and North Papua.
The newly passed laws have yet to come into force, but they will inevitably require redrawing the electoral districts and reallocating legislative seats for the three new provinces. These are stipulated in a transitional provision in the new laws, which states that these changes are "to be regulated in the Law on the General Elections".
This means that policymakers have two obvious options: by revising the General Elections Law or by recommending the issuance of a regulation in lieu of law (Perppu).
The House is currently in a month-long recess and has yet to formally discuss redrawing Papua’s electoral districts with the government. But members of House Commission II overseeing home affairs appear to prefer recommending a Perppu, as they have cited the tight deadline of Oct. 14 when the General Elections Commission (KPU) starts finalizing the number of electoral districts and legislative seats up for grabs in 2024.
Read also: Laws forming new Papuan provinces trigger protests
