The National Awakening Party faction of the Indonesian House of Representatives has proposed that regional heads be elected through the Regional People's Representative Council from previously being elected directly through regional head elections.
"Therefore, PKB has proposed and we will also propose later if there is a discussion on revising the Election Law, the Constitutional Court should decide that it is okay, that the regional elections be held simultaneously and elected by DPRD members. That is better," said the Chairman of the PKB DPR RI Faction, Jazilul Fawaid.
This was conveyed in a discussion by the PKB faction of the Indonesian House of Representatives regarding the Constitutional Court's decision to separate national elections and local elections entitled "Election Design Projections Post-Constitutional Court Decision" at the Parliament Complex, Senayan.
Because, he said, the 1945 Constitution (UUD) states that democratic regional head elections can be interpreted as direct regional head elections by the people or indirectly through the DPRD.
"What is done every five years in Article 22 (UUD), is to elect the President, DPR RI, DPD, Provincial DPRD, and Level II DPRD (Regency/City). In the law, specifically the President is elected directly, for Regional Heads it is elected democratically," he said.
According to him, his party's proposal that regional heads be elected through the DPRD is in accordance with the paradigm that the Constitutional Court (MK) used in issuing the decision to separate national and regional elections due to fatigue factors.
"If the Constitutional Court argues that the reason for creating the design for the central and regional elections was because they were tired, they said, and not focused. (If so) it would be more efficient if the regional elections were chosen by members of the Level II DPRD as representatives, as people who are given a mandate by their people at Level II so that they can determine who the regent will be, and that would be easier," he said.
Separately, member of Commission II of the Indonesian House of Representatives Muhammad Khozin said that the reason his party proposed that regional heads be elected through the DPRD was based on the philosophy of regional autonomy.
