IDNEWSNOW.COM, Jakarta – Coordinating Security Minister Mahfud MD on Friday’s virtual press conference said there was no convincing reason to postpone the 2020 Regional Head Elections (Pilkada).
“The government has stated that they will not be postponed due to the lack of convincing reasons to do so,” said Mahfud on a virtual press conference on September 11. “Governance needs to continue. Should we wait until the end of the pandemic? No one knows when it will end.”
This reason alone has convinced the government to conduct the regional elections under stringent health protocols.
Mahfud MD’s statement was in response to the emerging suggestions from several groups calling on the government to postpone the elections until after the pandemic passes, one of which came from the Association for Elections and Democracy (Perludem).
Perludem believes that many still continue to ignore the pandemic health protocols, including a number of regional head candidates themselves.
“If the government, the General Election Commission, and the House of Representatives are not able to guarantee that strict health protocols are followed, we demand the Pilkada be postponed,” said Perludem researcher Fadli Ramadhanil, who fears the regional elections will create new COVID-19 clusters.
Read: 59 Election Candidates Infected With COVID-19, Mahfud MD: Don’t Take This Lightly
FRISKI RIANA