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Government under pressure to delay regional polls as health risks heighten
Komnas HAM commissioner Hairansyah said the government would violate the right to life, right to health and right to feel safe – all of which are guaranteed under the Constitution – if it decided to press ahead with hosting the elections on schedule.
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An election official helps a voter with a disability take part in a simulation of the 2020 simultaneous regional elections in the front yard of the General Elections Commission on July 22. (JP/Dhoni Setiawan)
T
he government is under pressure to put the 2020 simultaneous regional elections on hold as the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Indonesia continues to surge.
The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) and experts have said that the government’s insistence of holding the elections on schedule will put election organizers, voters and candidates at risk of contracting the deadly disease.
The elections are slated to be held on Dec. 9 to elect 270 leaders comprising nine governors, 224 regents and 37 mayors across the archipelago, and candidates can host public campaign events from Sept. 26 to Dec. 5.
But as of Saturday, three months ahead of voting day, the number of COVID-19 cases in the country has reached 214,746. On Thursday, daily new cases hit a record high with 3,861.
Of the total 309 regencies and cities holding elections, including 39 regencies and cities in nine provinces where voters will elect governors, 45 are in red zones at high risk of COVID-19 infection. The remaining 152 are in orange zones, or moderate-risk areas, and 72 regions are in yellow zones, or low-risk areas.
Only 26 regions announced no new COVID-19 cases as of Friday, and 14 are free from COVID-19 – both are classified as green zones.
Read also: COVID-19 now a real threat to year-end polls
