Sidoarjo Regent Urges Residents to Ensure Simultaneous Village Head Elections Proceed Smoothly
Sidoarjo Regent, Subandi, has urged the entire community to ensure that the simultaneous village head elections (pilkades) remain conducive. He emphasised the importance of graciously accepting the results as part of the democratic process at the village level.
“So I urge all the people throughout Sidoarjo Regency; this is democracy. Whoever the people choose, that will be the village head. The key point is that the leader’s duty is to serve the community,” Subandi stated in his remarks on Saturday (25/4/2026).
He also reminded the public to maintain the smooth running of the pilkades, including among supporters of the candidate pairs.
“Protect democracy, uphold the commitment to unity, no matter who the candidate pairs are. Supporters must not quarrel with each other, as that would make it undemocratic,” he said.
Subandi affirmed that the Sidoarjo Regency Government is conducting intensive supervision of the simultaneous pilkades to keep the situation secure and minimise potential conflicts in the field.
Meanwhile, the Head of the Village Governance Development and Supervision Division at the Sidoarjo PMD Office, Hernita Hadi Lestari, stated that coordination for the pilkades has been carried out extensively since the early stages. This includes through communication groups involving pilkades committees in 80 villages.
“We have conducted extensive coordination with the group of pilkades committee chairmen from 80 villages and the DPMD team, so that every stage is accompanied to ensure it is orderly and runs according to regulations,” she said.
She added that the forum also serves as a space for committees to share experiences if issues arise in the field.
“It also allows committees to share problems among themselves if there are issues in each village. The regency committee also conducts monitoring and evaluation by visiting several villages (sampling) that have specific cases,” she added.
In the near future, all prospective village heads (cakades) who have been determined will be gathered for briefing. This effort aims to strengthen collective commitment to maintaining a safe situation during the pilkades.
“We plan to invite all determined prospective village heads in the near future for briefing,” she said.
Regarding technical rules, Hernita noted that the procedures for conducting the pilkades and campaigning are under the authority of the pilkades committees in each village, adjusted to local conditions.
“The procedures for pilkades implementation and campaigning are the authority of the pilkades committees, adapted to the conditions of each area,” she explained.
To anticipate potential disputes, the Sidoarjo Regency Government has also prepared resolution mechanisms. In fact, Subandi has formed a special team for handling pilkades result disputes.
“The Regent has formed a team for resolving pilkades result disputes,” she emphasised.
In resolving them, a consensus-based musyawarah approach is prioritised, taking into account field verification results.
“We prioritise consensus through musyawarah, considering factual verification results from the field,” she continued.
Additionally, the DPMD has mapped village vulnerability levels, from low to medium to high. This mapping serves as the basis for supervision strategies to ensure the pilkades run safely and smoothly.
“There is mapping for villages with low, medium, and high vulnerability,” she concluded.