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Pramono Ubaid becomes third KPU commissioner to test positive for COVID-19
He added that he was in good condition and had experienced no symptoms.
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Boxed up: A General Elections Commission (KPU) commissioner holds up a cardboard ballot box at the KPU headquarters in Jakarta on Dec. 14, 2018. (The Jakarta Post/Seto Wardhana)
G
eneral Elections Commission (KPU) commissioner Pramono Ubaid Tanthowi announced on Saturday that he had contracted COVID-19, making him the third KPU commissioner to test positive for the disease.
“According to a swab test I took on Friday, the results of which I have received this afternoon, I have been declared positive COVID-19,” he told the press on Saturday as quoted by tempo.co.
He added that he was in good condition and had experienced no symptoms.
On Friday, KPU chairman Arief Budiman also tested positive for COVID-19 after undergoing a swab test on Thursday evening.
Previously, KPU commissioner Evi Novida Ginting Manik had tested positive on Sept. 9.
Pramono said he had been working closely with Arief and attended an election e-counting system trial in Depok, West Java, with him on Wednesday.
“We [also] attended a memorandum of understanding signing event between the KPU and Hasanuddin University in Makassar [South Sulawesi] and a seminar on the campus on Sept. 14 and 15,” he said.
He added that he had been self-isolating at his official residence, apart from his family who are staying at a private home in Tangerang, Banten.
“I continue to perform my duties to prepare for the 2020 regional elections while working from home,” he said.
The 2020 simultaneous regional elections were initially slated for Sept. 23 but were postponed to Dec. 9 due to the COVID-19 outbreak in the country.
The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM), election watchdogs and experts have called on the government to further postpone the elections because of public health risks and possible low voter turnout.
Association for Elections and Democracy (Perludem) executive director Khoirunnisa Agustyati also said that she regretted the government’s decision to hold the election during the pandemic.
“The option to postpone the regional election in 270 regions does exist. The government can also partially postpone the election, for example, in regions with high cases of COVID-19,” she said as quoted by kompas.com.
However, deputy chairman of the House of Representatives’ Commission II overseeing home affairs, Saan Mustopa, said there has been no discussion about postponing the elections.
“While Pak Arief Budiman is recovering and self-isolating, his duties will be covered by other KPU commissioners. So, in my opinion, the regional elections’ preparations will not be affected,” Saan said. (trn)
