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Steep costs, red tape deter independent regional candidates
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A cyclist rides on July 22, 2020, past a mural in Surakarta, Central Java, that calls on people to reject vote-buying. (Antara/Maulana Surya)
T
he upcoming November regional elections will see the lowest number of independent candidates in recent memory, a phenomenon that experts say demonstrates that public office remains largely out of reach for people without political party backing.
The Nov. 27 regional elections will be the first time Indonesians simultaneously elect their governors, mayors and regents across 37 of the country’s 38 provinces (with the special region of Yogyakarta excluded) and over 500 regencies and cities.
Unlike in presidential and legislative elections, independent candidates may register for the regional polls, and early signs had suggested that hundreds of people were eager to do so.
But data from the General Elections Commission (KPU) shows that most ultimately backed out of independent candidacies. Only 71 prospective candidate pairs out of the 240 pairs that had consulted with local KPU branches about running independently registered their candidacies before the May 12 deadline.
Former energy minister Sudirman Said, who campaigned on behalf of unsuccessful presidential candidate Anies Baswedan in the February general election, and John Muhammad, a former student activist in the 1998 transition to democracy, were among those who reportedly retracted their bids to run independently. Both Sudirman and John had been eyeing the office of Jakarta governor.
Of the 71 prospective candidate pairs who met the mid-May deadline for registration, 26 pairs reportedly failed to submit complete applications, leaving only 45 pairs accepted for consideration by the KPU.
The elections commission will review the remaining pairs’ applications and announce its candidacy decisions by Aug. 19 at the latest.
