VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Simultaneous Regional Election amid Covid-19 Pandemic - EDITORIAL

The regional election 2020 had been held in 270 regions of Indonesia, consisting of 9 provinces, 224 regencies, and 37 cities. The election on December 9 had caused pros and cons, especially amid the Covid-19 pandemic. Based on data from Covid-19 Task Force, the potential new cluster ahead of the election had forced the task force to work harder in anticipating it. Meanwhile, the election organizer kept reminding the people to be careful in voting their new leaders. The Ministry of Home Affairs encouraged the people to criticize the election participants to avoid focusing whether the candidate is incumbent or non-incumbent.

Undeniably, the Simultaneous Regional Election 2020 is quite risky. In some regions, the candidates and organizers were infected, and some even died of Covid-19. Despite tight health protocol monitoring and implementation, there were still spots where the protocol was not implemented properly.

President Joko Widodo also stated that the election cannot wait until the pandemic ends, because no one knows when it will. Therefore, the election is a moment when Indonesia can overcome and end the Covid-19 spread with innovation, idea, and innovation.

Meanwhile, Covid-19 Task Force spokesperson Wiku Adisasmito said the task force in regions can disperse crowds at the voting places. The Home Affairs Minister Tito Karnavian said that the Covid-19 spread during the voting day is very possible. He also conveyed the optimism of the government and organizer that the election will go as planned.

Hope came on Sunday evening from the arrival of the first Covid-19 vaccine in Indonesia. Yet, there is still the final clinical test to be done. 

Pros and cons of the regional election might be able to be relieved a little bit with the vaccine arrival. According to the plan, the vaccine will be prioritized for health workers and other frontliners of health monitoring amid the pandemic. Still, the end of the pandemic still cannot be predicted, although many efforts had been done by the government and other related stakeholders. Therefore, nobody can be neglectful and everyone must still follow the health protocol.