House Member Proposes Regional Elections for Governor Only, Without Deputy

A member of the House of Representatives (DPR) Commission II, Muhammad Khozin, has proposed that regional head elections (Pilkada) be held solely to elect the head of the region, while the deputy head would be appointed by the elected official. Speaking during a meeting in Jakarta on Thursday, Khozin suggested the idea to prevent deputies from merely being used as vote-getters during elections. “The solution is to amend the Pilkada Law. We should just elect the regional head without a deputy. The deputy can be appointed by the elected regional head,” he stated.

Khozin argued that the current system often leads to disharmony between the regional head and their deputy, a problem he claims is systemic rather than personal. He noted that the issue was raised during a previous hearing with the Association of Deputy Regional Heads. “This problem is by system, not by person, because almost 60 percent of the data we have shows disharmony between regional heads and their deputies,” he explained.

Furthermore, he highlighted that under current regulations, the deputy regional head’s role is limited to executing delegated tasks. Without such delegation, the deputy has no meaningful function. “The deputy regional head is only delegated. If there is no delegation from the regional head, the deputy cannot do anything. They just sit idly for five years or only attend annual forums,” Khozin remarked, emphasizing that this situation contradicts the spirit of democracy and regional autonomy.