Bagus BT Saragih, Jakarta – Following reports that the majority of local heads are in acrimonious relationships with their deputies, the Home Ministry is proposing that the deputy positions no longer be contested in direct local elections.
Home Ministry spokesman Reydonnyzar Moenek confirmed on Wednesday that the ministry had finished drafting the Regional Elections bill, which stipulates that local elections will only directly elect regents and mayors.
Deputies for the two posts will be selected from among bureaucrats. "The positions will be no longer be political posts as we have today but will become structural jobs," Doni said.
With the proposed mechanism, elected local leaders will be free to pick his or her deputy from local bureaucrats and forward their names to the Home Ministry for approval. A regency or municipality could have more than one deputy regent or mayor, depending on the size of the area or its population, Doni added.
He said the proposal was made after recent cases came to light of disputes between local heads and their deputies, which the ministry perceived as a threat to the delivery of public services.
Data from the ministry stated that 93.5 percent of the 244 pairs of regional leaders had fallen out in 2010, and 67 pairs before their terms expired in 2011.
Home Minister Gamawan Fauzi recently said the rifts mostly arose from local heads and their deputies preparing themselves for the next election.
"I have observed that most local heads and their deputies only managed to maintain 'amicability' during the first several months following their election. After a regent and his or her deputy declare they will run again for re-election, I can assure you the pair is no longer effective in managing the administration," said Gamawan, who is also a former regent and governor.
In the draft bill, the government has also made a proposal for new rules in local elections, including reverting to the former system whereby a governor will be elected by local legislative councils (DPRD).
The ministry's director general for regional autonomy, Djohermansyah Djohan, based the proposal on the provision that a governor had neither constituencies nor territory, and their elections by local councils would not contravene democratic principles.
"Regents and mayors are leaders of autonomous regions and have more direct connections with the people. We should, therefore, maintain direct elections for regents and mayors," he said.
The government has also proposed a rule that would ban family members of incumbents to run in local elections.
The ministry recently finished drafting the bill and is set to begin deliberations with the House of Representatives in January 2012.
National Awakening Party (PAN) lawmaker Abdul Malik Haramain, of the House Commission II overseeing domestic governance and regional autonomy, said he opposed the ministry's proposal of picking local deputies from the bureaucracy.
"That's the wrong way of addressing the problem. What we need is a law that has a clear-cut division of labor between local heads and their deputies," he said. "We also need to draft a regulation that would impose penalties upon local heads or their deputies who resign before the expiration of their terms," Malik added.
Political analyst Hadar Nafiz Gumay from the Center for Electoral Reform (Cetro), concurred with Malik. "The real problem starts with the election process. The pairing is the result of political horse-trading," Hadar said.