Separating National and Local Elections Becomes a New Problem that Arises

Another important decision of the Constitutional Court is Decision Number 135/PUU-XXII/2024, which requires the separation between national and local elections with a time lag of around 2 to 2.5 years starting from the 2029 Election. This decision aims to reduce the burden on election organizers while improving the quality of local democracy. However, this separation actually creates serious new problems, especially regarding vacancies for regional heads and DPRD members. Their term of office will end in 2029, while local elections will only be held several years later. This condition has the potential to trigger sharp debates regarding whether the term of office needs to be extended or whether the appointment of Acting Officers (Plt) will be carried out on a large scale. Both options are equally problematic. Extending the term of office touches on the issue of democratic legitimacy, while appointing a large number of Plt for a long time risks weakening the accountability of regional government. Without a mature policy design, separating elections can actually create political uncertainty at the local level.

Discourse on Indirect Regional Head Elections and the Threat of Democratic Regression

Amid the need to revise the Regional Head Election Law, the discourse has re-emerged to restore the mechanism for electing regional heads through the DPRD. Juridically, this mechanism has indeed been declared constitutional by the Constitutional Court. However, substantively, this idea is difficult to separate from the impression of being a step backwards in democratization. Direct regional head elections are one of the important achievements of reform that strengthens people's sovereignty at the local level. Eliminating this mechanism risks distancing the people from the political decision-making process, while also opening up greater space for elite transactions in regional parliaments. If this discourse is accommodated in the revision of the Regional Head Election Law, then political conflict and public rejection are almost unavoidable.