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KPU plans earlier, shorter registration for presidential candidates
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An officer from the General Elections Commission (KPU) introduces five different ballots in 2018 at the KPU building in Central Jakarta. (JP/Dhoni Setiawan)
The election body is planning to move the registration deadline for presidential and vice-presidential candidates to mid-October from late November, a change that could require political parties to rush their nomination decisions.
The General Elections Commission (KPU) is finalizing a draft of a regulation to reschedule the registration window for presidential and vice-presidential candidates from Oct. 19 through Nov. 25 to Oct. 10-16 this year, cutting the time for candidates to register from five weeks to one.
An estimated 206 million voters will go to the polls on Feb. 14 of next year to elect the country’s next president and vice president, as well as lawmakers and councilors at the national and regional levels.
KPU chairman Hasyim As’yari said that the date change followed the issuance of a regulation in lieu of law (Perppu) by President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo in December of last year that revised some provisions of the 2017 Generals Election Law despite election procedures having begun in mid-2022.
The Perppu was originally conceived to allow the government to redraw electoral districts and reallocate legislative seats for four new provinces created in Papua last year. But it also revised some provisions regarding election campaigns, including a delay of the presidential campaign start date, which changes the election timetable set by the KPU, except for the voting day.
The Perppu stipulates that the campaign season for a presidential election can only begin 15 days after the KPU announces which candidates are eligible to run for president and vice president. Prior to this, the campaign season started three days after the candidate announcement.
"Taking into account [the mandated changes in] the time frame, [moving the registration period for presidential candidates to Oct. 10-16] is the most logical choice the KPU has," Hasyim said on Friday, adding that the KPU wanted to minimize changes in other stages of elections.
