Zulhas Proposes Regional Elections Be Conducted by DPRD
The Chairman of the National Mandate Party (PAN), Zulkifli Hasan, has once again proposed that the election of regents and mayors, or regional elections (Pilkada), be conducted by regional representative councils (DPRD) rather than through direct elections.
Zulhas, as he is affectionately known, made the proposal while attending the 109th Aisyiyah Jamboree in Tawangmangu, Karanganyar Regency, Central Java, on Saturday, 27 June 2026. According to Zulkifli, the proposal is driven by the high political costs in regional elections, which have the potential to encourage the exploitation of natural resources. He stated that he has already presented this idea to President Prabowo Subianto.
“I suggested to Mr Prabowo, ‘Later, let’s not elect regents; let the DPRD choose them instead.’ I proposed it. Many will be angry, saying, ‘Oh, the people’s rights will be lost.’ But rather than the current state of destruction,” he said.
Zulkulifli believes that the cost of running for regent is currently irrational. According to him, the political expenses to become a regent can reach IDR 50-100 billion.
“Where does the money come from? From those who have money. Once they are in office, the financiers will demand, ‘Where is my money?’” he remarked.
Zulkifli stated that elected regional heads often struggle to repay the funds spent by their political supporters. As a result, natural resource management permits become tools to settle political debts.
“In the end, they are given mines, plantations, and various other things. Land and Mining Business Permits (IUP) are given as a way to repay the costs of winning the regency or governorship,” he said.
According to Zulkifli, this condition contradicts the mandate of Article 33 of the 1945 Constitution, which stipulates that natural resources are controlled by the state and used for the greatest prosperity of the people.
“That is it. Therefore, we must be self-sufficient, and secondly, we must control our natural resources as per Article 33. It was formulated by our fighters, such as Kasman Singodimedjo; everything was formulated under Pancasila, that is the essence of Article 33,” he said.
The Coordinating Minister for Food Security also highlighted the practice of mining production reporting, which he deemed non-transparent and potentially detrimental to the state.
“The state owns it; the gold, the coal, the nickel—it is given to others, to private individuals. These private individuals are the ones who pay royalties to the state and pay taxes. Even the tax payments are fraudulent,” he said.
Zulkifli admitted he has long been aware of these issues. “Production is 1 million, but they report 500,000. They sell abroad at a price of 1,000, but report 500. I have known this for a long time. That is why if we win, the state must take control! The state must be the master; the entrepreneur is the one who is paid (the contractor), not the owner,” he asserted.
The proposal to reintroduce regional elections via the DPRD was previously raised by the Golkar Party following its national leadership meeting on Saturday, 20 December 2025. The Banyan tree-symbolised party argued that direct elections result in increasingly expensive political costs.
So far, political parties supporting the Prabowo administration have expressed support for rolling out DPRD-led regional elections. Of the eight political parties in parliament, only PDI Perjuangan has explicitly rejected this discourse, arguing that elections via the DPRD are undemocratic. Meanwhile, Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) assesses that the argument regarding high political costs in direct elections is neither relevant nor logical.