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Direct regional election helps non-party candidates, CSIS says
CSIS political analyst argues that direct regional elections may give an opportunity for candidates not aligned with political parties to win in regional polls.
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A voter casts his ballot at a polling station during a revote for the 2024 simultaneous regional elections in Makassar, South Sulawesi, on Dec. 3, 2024. (Antara/Adwit Pramono)
A handful of regional heads sworn in on Thursday after winning the 2024 simultaneous regional polls in November last year were not card-carrying members of any political parties, a recent study has found, with researchers claiming their victories were possible thanks to the direct election model.
Jakarta-based Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) launched on Wednesday the study, which was based on analysis of open source information on the demographic data, incumbency status and political affiliation of candidates running in 37 provinces in the regional elections in November of last year.
The think tank found that while most of the elected candidates were affiliated with established political elites, figures who were not political party members topped the poll in several provinces, regencies and cities across the country.
Four of 37 governors fell into this category, namely Khofifah Indar Parawansa in East Java; Lalu Muhammad Iqbal in West Nusa Tenggara (NTB); Apolo Safanpo in South Papua; and Elisa Kambu in Southwest Papua.
Khofifah, a senior politician with a past track record as minister and national legislature member, was reelected as East Java governor after her first term between 2018 and 2023. Meanwhile, Elisa was a former Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) politician who once served as regent of Asmat in Papua.
Apolo was a former rector of Cenderawasih University (Uncen) in Jayapura, Papua, who served as acting South Papua governor from 2022 to 2024. Lalu was a Foreign Ministry diplomat who served as the Indonesian ambassador to Turkey between 2019 and 2023.
