There are 25 candidate pairs run in the Pilkada during the pandemic without a competitor, aka a single candidate. This number is an increase from the three previous Pilkada waves, namely 3 in the 2015 Simultaneous Pilkada, 9 in the 2017 Simultaneous Pilkada, and 16 in the 2018 Simultaneous Pilkada.
The number of 25 single candidates is also a reduction. Because initially, in Serdang Bedagai Regency, Bintan Regency, and Sungai Penuh City, there was also only one candidate pair. The coalition of supporting parties then changed so that another candidate pair run through the party.
There has been no study linking the large number of single candidate pairs with the pandemic. However, if the background of the single candidate pairs in the 2020 Simultaneous Pilkada is analyzed, the majority of the candidate pairs are incumbents, have political dynasties, and/or cadres from parties or organizations that have a strong mass base in the area.
From the results of the Perludem study, there are 11 incumbent regional heads and deputy regional heads who run in the single candidate election. That is, the incumbent regional head re-pairs with the incumbent deputy regional head. Of the 11 candidate pairs, 4 candidates are associated with political dynasties or have kinship with political elites in the regions.
The split of the incumbent's partnership also occurred in the Pilkada for a single candidate pair. 4 incumbent regional heads and 3 incumbent deputy regional heads will run in the 2020 Simultaneous Pilkada.
Former state civil servants (ASN), former members of the TNI, and regional parliamentary politicians were also nominated as the single candidates. In the Wonosobo Pilkada, the Chair and Deputy Chair of the Wonosobo DPRD for the 2019-2024 period were paired, supported by 7 parties.
The results of Pilkada for a single candidate
In 24 single candidate pairs regions (the results of the Arfak Mountains Pilkada cannot be known in the pilkada2020.kpu.go.id until December 29, 2020, at 12.27 WIB), all single candidate pairs beat the empty boxes. Arfak Mountains Regency is a single candidate pair region with the highest voter turnout, which is 99.25 percent. The second highest was South Manokwari Regency with 98.74 percent of voters using their right to vote. In these two regions, the incumbent regent and deputy regent candidates are supported by almost all political parties in the DPRD. Only 6.9 percent of the vote was for the empty box in the South Manokwari Pilkada.
Meanwhile, in Kutai Kartanegara, the incumbent single candidate pair-DPRD DPRD of Kutai Kartanegara Regency with the lowest voter turnout, namely 56.67 percent, the vote for the single candidate pair was 73.8 percent or 199,880 votes. 26.2 percent of voters or 70,851 people voted for the empty box. The number of votes for the single candidate pair in Kutai Kartanegara was less than the number of abstain voters of 211,474 voters. The total voters in the DPT are 488,055 people.
The largest number of votes for the empty box was in the Pilkada Humbang Hasundutan. 47.5 percent of 78 percent of voters voted against the incumbent regent who was paired with a former member of the Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI). Humbang Hasundutan is not a mass-based area for a particular political party, and not all regional parliamentary parties promoted a single candidate pair. If the percentage of votes for the empty box is added up with the percentage of voters who abstain, then 58.47 percent of the votes are not reserved for a single candidate.
The second largest percentage for empty boxes is in the Kebumen Pilkada. 39.2 percent of voters chose the empty box compared to the incumbent deputy regent who was promoted by one hundred percent of the parties in parliament. The total percentage of votes for empty box and abstentions is 60.55 percent
The single candidate's most decisive victory occurred in the South Ogan Komering Ulu (OKU) Pilkada. The incumbent regent and deputy regent candidates for Popo Ali Martopo-Sholehien Abuasir who were promoted by all regional parliamentary parties were chosen by 96.2 percent of the voters. The voter turnout rate in South OKU is 85 percent.
Of the 9 single candidate pairs involving political dynasties, both at the national and regional levels, the Balikpapan City Election is the area with the lowest voter participation and vote acquisition for a single candidate. 62.4 percent or 160,741 voters chose the incumbent single candidate, while 37.6 percent or 96,669 voters chose the empty box. Because the voter turnout in Balikpapan City was only 60 percent, 177,297 voters did not exercise their right to vote. This number is greater than the number of voters who voted for a single candidate pair.
In addition to the incumbent factor, single candidate pairs also occur because the region is the region of the mass base of a particular party. Of the 25 single candidate pairs, 7 are the mass base areas for the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP), 1 are the mass base areas for the PDIP and the National Awakening Party (PKB), 3 are the mass base areas for the Golkar Party, and 1 are the mass base areas for the Demokrat Party.
Of the 12 regions, the highest voter turnout was in the Raja Ampat Pilkada, which was 93.92 percent. Raja Ampat is the mass base of the Demokrat Party. The incumbent regent of Raja Ampat is the chairman of the DPC of the Raja Ampat Regency Demokrat Party. The vote for the single candidate pair in Raja Ampat was 66.6 percent and for the empty box 33.4 percent.
The party's mass base region with the second highest participation rate is Boyolali, at 89.53 percent. Although the incumbent single candidate- President Director of the Boyolali Regional Public Water Company was only supported by one party, namely PDIP, the single candidate pair won 95.5 percent of the time from the empty box. Boyolali is the mass base of the PDIP. In the 2019 Legislative Election, PDIP won 35 of the 45 seats in the Boyolali Regency DPRD.
Recommendations
The single candidate pair is, in fact, a step to ensure victory from the start, both by the opposition voice from civil society against a single candidate pair organically, as well as opposition driven by political parties or candidates who cannot run because of the non-fulfillment of the requirements to become a candidate.
The single candidate's victory was caused by at least three factors. First, the background of the single candidate pair as the incumbent, incumbent, comes from a political dynasty, or high-ranking regional official who has political and social resources. Second, the mobilization of support for a single candidate pair is carried out by the majority of regional parliamentary parties that do have constituents in the area. Third, there is not enough rival power to campaign against a single candidate. Moreover, the empty box cannot be facilitated by the state.
Thus, the policy recommendations that need to be made are removing the requirement of 20 percent of DPRD seats to nominate a candidate and imposing a nomination threshold of 0 percent. Second, apply an equal policy for single candidate and empty box. The state can facilitate empty box with campaign ads and campaign props (APK).
