VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

The election of the regional heads –Pilkada has ended. Although the results have not been officially announced by the General Elections Commission –KPU, the quick count results of the names of candidates for regional heads who get the most votes can already be known.

It’s very ironic that the election of regional heads may be said to succeed. There are still voters who are "not smart" in determining their choice. The reason is that there are nine candidates for regional leaders, who have been designated as suspects by the Corruption Eradication Commission –KPK, managed to obtain significant votes.

In fact, two of them can win elections held simultaneously throughout Indonesia on 27 June. In seven other regions, though not winning, the corruption suspects are also successful enough to obtain more votes. Take for example, one candidate for governor of East Nusa Tenggara -NTT who is also involved in corruption case appears a second winner in votes from four candidates.

The significant vote cast of corruption suspects is a reflection of the failure of thought among the voters. In fact, the state losses that are so large due to corruption do not make them reject the corruptors.

The general public may reason the principle of presumption of innocence. But, they have to keep in mind that the Corruption Eradication Commission-KPK certainly does not just determine a person as a corrupt suspect.

The facts show that at the level of grassroots, the danger of corruption has not been understandable. Maybe, the people do not receive correct information related to candidates who participate in the elections. So, what happened is that they did not know whom to elect.

The General Elections Commission -KPU will open the registration of legislative candidates for the 2019 General Election from July 4 to 18 and announce the regulation No. 20/2018. The contents are that KPU forbids the former convicted corruptors to advance in legislative elections. This regulation has been uploaded on the official page of the KPU although it has not been agreed by the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights.

Whether the KPU's decision will be controversial or not is that the public are expected to be smarter during the legislative and presidential elections next year.