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KPU races to solve revote funding problem
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A woman dips her finger in ink after casting her vote on Nov. 27, 2024, during the simultaneous regional elections, at a polling station in Surabaya, East Java. Indonesian voters elected new local leaders in the country's biggest simultaneous regional election. (AFP/Juni Kriswanto)
T
he Constitutional Court-ordered revote for regional head elections in dozens of regions across the country is being hindered by a limited budget, with the General Elections Commission (KPU) scrambling to solve the financing issue amid scrutiny from lawmakers and the government’s sweeping austerity measures.
On Monday, the KPU’s central office held a meeting with its regional branches to discuss the financial and logistical aspects of the revote for the Papua gubernatorial election as well as for mayoral and regental elections in 23 regions, such as Serang regency in Banten. The poll agency must hold the revote within 30 to 180 days since the court decided so on Feb. 24.
The KPU previously estimated that its regional offices would need a total of Rp 486 billion (US$$29.37 million) to organize the revote. While some offices still have money left over from the November regional elections that were sourced from the regional budgets, a majority of them have insufficient funds totaling a shortfall of Rp 373 billion.
“If [the budgets from] regional administrations are no longer available, particularly from regions where all polling stations need to do a revote, we have to communicate with the Home Affairs Ministry to find a solution,” KPU chair Mochammad Afifuddin said during the Monday meeting, as quoted by Antara.
Afifuddin said that a potential solution would be to source funds from the budget of provincial administrations where the revote for mayors or regents would take place. Should this not be possible, the KPU would then ask the Finance Ministry for additional funds from the state budget.
The revote comes when various ministries and government bodies are still adjusting to President Prabowo Subianto’s austerity measures, though it remains unclear if the budget cuts had impacted the KPU.
Afifuddin also said that the KPU is planning to hold the revote across five stages, depending on each region’s court-mandated deadline for the revote. The first is slated for March 22, followed by April 5, April 19, May 24 and Aug. 9.
