Regional Head Inauguration Schedule Submitted to Government, President Prabowo Chooses February 20, 2025

JAKARTA, KOMPAS - The government and the DPR have agreed to unify the inauguration schedule for regional heads from the 2024 Regional Head Elections who are not in dispute at the Constitutional Court or MK with the results of the MK's dismissal decision. For certainty of the inauguration schedule, the DPR has left it to the government. However, President Prabowo Subianto has chosen for the inauguration to be held on February 20, 2025.

After a meeting lasting approximately five hours at the Parliament Complex, Jakarta, on Monday (3/2/2025), the government, represented by the Ministry of Home Affairs along with election organizers and Commission II of the House of Representatives, finally agreed to annul the decision of the meeting on January 22, 2025, regarding the inauguration schedule of regional heads resulting from the 2024 Regional Head Elections (Pilkada).

Initially, based on the decision of the meeting, the regional heads and deputy heads whose election results were no longer disputed at the Constitutional Court were scheduled to be inaugurated on February 6. However, the decision has now been changed because the government will combine the inauguration of regional heads from the 2024 regional elections who are not disputed at the Constitutional Court with the results of the dismissal decision. The Constitutional Court plans to announce the dismissal decision or whether or not to continue the election result dispute case to the next process, on February 4-5, 2025.

"The official announcement (of the regional head inauguration schedule) will be delivered by the government through the Minister of Home Affairs," said the Chairman of Commission II of the House of Representatives, Rifqinizamy Karsayuda.

However, in today's meeting, the Minister of Home Affairs (Mendagri) Tito Karnavian has actually revealed that the inauguration of regional heads resulting from the 2024 Pilkada who are not in dispute at the Constitutional Court with the results of the dismissal decision, is planned to be carried out on February 20, 2025. Tito claims that the date has also been chosen by President Prabowo.

However, based on caution and providing flexibility for various dynamics that may occur in the future, Commission II of the DPR fully hands over the schedule of this inauguration to the government through the Minister of Home Affairs, which will later be formulated through a revision of Presidential Regulation Number 80 of 2024 concerning the Schedule and Procedures for the Inauguration of Regional Heads.

"In principle, God willing, (the inauguration of regional heads) will be held on February 20, 2025, in the capital city, in this case, Jakarta," said Rifqinizamy.

In the meeting, Tito conveyed the details of the chronology until finally the government proposed changing the inauguration schedule to February 20, 2025. The schedule change was said to be in accordance with the Constitutional Court's decision to accelerate the dismissal decision schedule, which was initially planned to be read on February 13 to February 4-5, 2025.

Shortly after the Constitutional Court decided to move forward the dismissal decision, the Chairman of the General Elections Commission (KPU) Afifuddin then contacted Tito. They agreed that the inauguration of regional heads would be simultaneous for those who did not dispute the Constitutional Court with the results of the dismissal decision. That way, more regional heads would be inaugurated and the time would be more efficient.

The number of regional elections whose results are not disputed in the Constitutional Court is 296 regions. Meanwhile, the number of regional elections whose results are still disputed in the Constitutional Court is 249 regions.

Tito also questioned the KPU's commitment to whether regional KPUs currently in session at the Constitutional Court could be encouraged to issue a decree on the determination of the elected regional head quickly after the dismissal decision was read. The KPU agreed as long as the Constitutional Court could also download the dismissal decision quickly on the Constitutional Court's website.

From the results of the communication with the KPU Chairman, Tito then consulted with the Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court Suhartoyo and Constitutional Court Judge Saldi Isra.

The Constitutional Court confirmed the information about advancing the dismissal decision schedule. However, the Constitutional Court judges were reluctant to reveal the estimated number of regional heads whose dismissal decisions were ultimately rejected.

"I did ask and tease, bait, the point is, is the dismissal (number) significant? Because if the number is significant, more regional heads will be inaugurated. And it was said to me, 'The Minister of Home Affairs can see past experiences in previous regional elections, it was above 50 percent, even 80 percent. However, we cannot say how many, let alone the regions. That is a secret,'" said Tito.

In communication with the Constitutional Court, Tito also said that the Constitutional Court agreed that the dismissal decision would be immediately downloaded from the Constitutional Court's official website shortly after it was read.

Based on all the communication results, Tito then reported to President Prabowo and several options for the inauguration dates of regional heads were proposed, namely February 18, 19, and 20, 2025.

"The President said that he chose the 20th, Thursday," said Tito.

According to Tito's calculations, if all administrative processes are carried out quickly by the regional KPU, the provincial DPRD, and then the government, it is not impossible for the inauguration to be held on February 20, 2025. He repeatedly mentioned that the decision is likely to take longer at the DPRD stage because there may be a lack of synchronization between the elected regional head and the local DPRD.

"Even if there is a DPRD that does not propose (the inauguration of the regional head), we will convey to the public, which DPRD did not propose and will be taken over by the government. Everything is regulated in the law and the public is welcome to judge, what is wrong with the DPRD not proposing," he said.

Member of Commission II of the House of Representatives from the Golkar Party Faction, Ahmad Doli Kurnia Tandjung, somewhat disagreed with the decision to inaugurate the regional head. He agreed, the inauguration needed to be faster so that the wheels of government could run immediately.

However, he regretted that the Minister of Home Affairs did not think about the fate of the inauguration of regional heads after the dismissal decision.

"Why do we hold simultaneous regional elections, but not the inauguration. The terms of office are different. It would be better if the regional elections were not simultaneous. And it has been regulated in the law, in the Constitutional Court's decision on the simultaneity of regional elections as well. Holding on to those two things, we must be careful in making decisions," he said.

He is worried that the government and the DPR's decision to inaugurate regional heads on February 20 will be questioned later. Because, there is no spirit of simultaneity there.

"Later we will be blamed again. The Constitutional Court said it would be simultaneous once. Then we made it simultaneous once with the inauguration of 300 regional heads, but the rest will not be inaugurated simultaneously," said Doli.

For that, he asked the Minister of Home Affairs to consult again with the Constitutional Court regarding the meaning of this simultaneity. He also asked the government to be more careful in drafting the presidential regulation so that it would not be questioned later.