inp.polri.go.id - Jakarta. The Chairperson of Indonesia General Election Commission (KPU) Mochammad Afifuddin saw that the spirit of Regional Head Election cannot be represented if a region won by “empty box”.

“This election was meant to choose the leader of a region, if the ‘empty box’ wins the election, it means we did not vote for the candidates participating in the election,” says Afifudin on Monday (9/9/2024).

According to current law, if the sole candidate did not manage to win the election, the current acting regional head will be chosen as the leader and the candidate will have to wait for another five years until the next election comes.

Therefore, he says there was a proposal for re-voting in the next year if the ‘empty box’ wins the election instead of waiting for five years.

KPU will hold a hearing session with Commission II of the Indonesian House of Representatives on Tuesday (9/10/2024). They will discuss the rules if the empty box wins in the 2024 Regional Head Elections.

"Well, we proposed it because there was also a discussion that the re-voting could be done next year. So we will ask for consultation with the Law Makers whether it is possible to be held next year if the ‘empty box’ wins," he concluded.

(ad/fa/pr/nm)