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The week in review: Dark side of shadow candidacy
JP/Ganung Adi NugrohoThe deadline for candidates to register with the General Elections Commission (KPU) for the Dec
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JP/Ganung Adi Nugroho
The deadline for candidates to register with the General Elections Commission (KPU) for the Dec. 9 regional polls passed on July 26 with many of the 269 provinces, cities and regencies still with only a single pair of candidates.
Even though the commission is, as laws require, allowing another week, until Aug. 3, for the regions to reach at least two pairs of nominees, it is not very likely that any more aspirants will seize the chance. If that is the case, then the laws require that the regions postpone their polls to the second round of regional elections scheduled for 2017 when they would hopefully get more than one pair of candidates.
The emergence of sole candidacies in local elections is a phenomenon that legislators did not apparently anticipate when they made the pertaining laws that have now been blamed for the drop in candidates. When regional heads' terms expire in 2015, but the region has delayed its election for two years, it will create serious problems.
For example the region will have to appoint a caretaker that will be in charge until the permanent government is formed after an election. This situation will be precarious as a caretaker is not permitted to make major political decisions, such as approving much needed development projects.
In the country where relations between political parties are notoriously transactional, the phenomenon is widely seen as part of their horse-trading strategy.
When a pair supported by a party or a group of parties is obviously too powerful to challenge, others will not field their candidates because they will likely lose anyway no matter how much money and resources they put in.
But not all parties opt to stall the election. In some regions where the hugely popular incumbent is seeking re-election, people talk about a calon boneka, or a shadow candidate fielded by a coalition of parties simply to allow the election to proceed, legitimating the local chief's re-election. In return, the shadow candidates' supporters receive financial rewards or positions in the government. Of course the allegation is hard to prove but it is a public secret.
According to the KPU, solitary pairs of candidates are seen in 10 regencies and four municipalities across the country. The best known unchallenged candidate is Surabaya mayor, Tri Rismaharini, who pairs with Wisnu Sakti Buana; both secure the support of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P).
The emergence of unopposed candidates is a symptom of bad politics resulting from political parties' failure to groom their best potential leaders.
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If the Meteorology and Geophysics Agency's forecast is credible, Indonesia will have to bear the brunt of this prolonged drought for another three months ' a terribly long wait when food crops in much of Java are already wilting, water sources drying up and forest fires in Sumatra sending thick smoke to our neighbor Singapore.
The agency has also forecast that the dry spell in some regions will last until as late as February because the dry season began two months late this year. Drought can be a serious problem for a country like Indonesia, which relies on rain for its agriculture.
In fact, water shortages are coming to Greater Jakarta, where access to clean water has already become an urban problem, affecting millions of people who have no access to tap water and rely on groundwater for their daily needs.
Local administrations have called for efficient use of water in anticipation of a prolonged drought that may spell other problems such as food shortage, hydropower supply disruptions, drinking water scarcity and disease. As of today, only dwindling water supplies have been reported.
Every year, severe drought affects about 200,000 hectares of paddy fields across the archipelago, where irrigation systems do not exist, or are not properly maintained. The estimated area may be small compared to the 13 million ha of paddy farms throughout Indonesia, but the problem surely hurts affected local economies.
Searing dry seasons should not disrupt President Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo's ambition to make Indonesia self-reliant for its food within the first three years of his administration. This goal is attainable if all relevant government institutions work together to anticipate and manage the drought effects. To achieve the ambitious target, Jokowi has planned to build 200,000 lagoons across the regions in addition to the 11 major dams for irrigation and hydropower supply. For short-term problem solving, the government has provided Rp 11 billion, mostly in the form of water pumps.
Learning from past experience, the Agriculture Ministry has set up a special team tasked with managing drought. Agriculture Minister Andi Amram Sulaiman says the task force aims to ensure that this year's drought will not adversely affect the government's food self-sufficiency efforts.
Also this year, the President has issued a decree on the supply, storage and pricing of food that provides the legal basis for measures the government will take in times of hardship.
For now, what the government needs to do is improve its crisis management and inter-agency coordination to better anticipate the adverse effects of the dry season.
' Pandaya
