Experts are unconvinced that the extended candidate registration deadline in more than a dozen regions facing uncontested regional elections will result in new names signing up to compete against the strongly backed existing candidates.
Experts are unconvinced that the extended candidate registration deadline in more than a dozen regions facing uncontested regional elections will result in new names signing up to compete against the strongly backed existing candidates, especially as poll regulations make it difficult for parties to back out of alliances.
The General Elections Commission (KPU) reopened candidate registration on Monday for the West Papua gubernatorial race and 42 regental and mayoral elections where only one candidate pair had registered, giving political parties a chance to reconfigure their alliances and field alternative candidate pairs until Wednesday.
But KPU commissioner Idham Holik told The Jakarta Post that as of Tuesday afternoon no new party-backed or independent candidate had registered across the 43 regions.
In many of those regions, most political parties that have yet to field a candidate do not meet the popular-vote-based nomination threshold, despite it having been lowered last month through a Constitutional Court ruling.
Elections expert Titi Anggraini said the only way to prevent uncontested elections in such regions would be for political parties already backing the sole candidate to retract their support and join undeclared parties to field an alternative candidate.
But a major stumbling block to this, Titi said, was that KPU regulations required all members of an alliance to sign an agreement letter to allow one member to withdraw and change support.
“This is a big ask. In cases where a sole candidate pair is backed by an alliance of more than a dozen parties, I can’t imagine one of its members getting all the permission [from other members] before the registration deadline on Wednesday,” Titi said.
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