National and Local Elections Separated, Political Parties Have More Freedom to Prepare the Best Leader Candidates

JAKARTA, KOMPAS - The Constitutional Court's decision to separate local and national elections not only benefits political parties but also the public. Political parties have more freedom to prepare their best cadres, while the public has alternatives to choose capable leaders. Therefore, political parties should not resist this decision and should promptly advocate for the revision of electoral regulations.

The Constitutional Court (MK) has decided to separate the organization of national elections and local elections on the grounds of realizing quality elections and facilitating citizens in exercising their voting rights. The national elections to elect the president and vice president, as well as the House of Representatives (DPR) and Regional House of Representatives (DPRD), will be held first.

Meanwhile, local elections to select governors and their deputies, regents and their deputies, mayors and their deputies, as well as members of the provincial and district/city regional councils, are held no sooner than 2 years and no later than 2 years and 6 months after the inauguration of the members of the House of Representatives and the Regional Representative Council or after the inauguration of the president and vice president.

The Professor of Political Science at Airlangga University Surabaya, Ramlan Surbakti, stated that with the separation of national and local elections, political parties have more opportunities to prepare their best cadres as candidates for leadership, both in the executive and legislative institutions.

"With the separation of elections, political parties no longer prepare their candidates in bulk. There are two periods for preparing their best cadres. Of course, they must also undergo a mature cadre development process," said Ramlan during a public discussion titled "The Impact of the Constitutional Court Decision Number 135/PUU-XXII/2024 on the Election System, Regional Elections, and Local Government," which was held online on Saturday (28/6/2025).

In its ruling read on Thursday (26/6), the Constitutional Court also conveyed that there are several issues that have arisen in the last two elections (the 2019 and 2024 elections). These issues include voter confusion due to the large number of candidates and voter fatigue, the pressure of the election administration stages that burden the election organizers, as well as the difficulties faced by political parties in preparing their cadres. These issues were the considerations for the Constitutional Court to grant the request of the Association for Elections and Democracy (Perludem) to separate the national elections from the local elections.

With the separation of elections, political parties are no longer preparing their candidates in bulk. There are two time periods to prepare their best cadres.

Ramlan also observed that political parties have become an extension of the authorities rather than a representation of their constituents. The candidates put forward are not the result of a sustainable cadre development process. As a result, the elected leaders, particularly the legislative members, are less competent. This is at least evident from the drafting of laws that often leave gaps, even ending up at the Constitutional Court.

"The creation of laws is not through deliberation, but through bancakan, aka just sharing out. All the factions' wishes are accommodated so that they often conflict with each other," said Ramlan.

The interval between elections, according to Ramlan, also presents an opportunity to enhance electoral accountability. This is because evaluations can be conducted at least twice over a five-year period, both at the national and regional levels. Until now, political parties have only been evaluated once every five years if adhering to a simultaneous election system.

However, Ramlan continued, it could happen if voters have the will to demand the figures they have chosen. With the assessment mechanism of “reward” and “punishment”, political parties can be encouraged to be accountable for the performance of their elected cadres while in office.

"Voters have two opportunities, namely national elections and local elections to evaluate the performance of parties or candidates. We can make decisions whether it is a reward or punishment. If the performance is good, they are re-elected, if bad, they are not elected," said Ramlan.

A similar sentiment was expressed by senior researcher from Perludem, Heroik Pratama, who also acted as the petitioner in case 135. According to him, the simultaneity of the presidential election, legislative elections, and regional elections has led to a weakening of the institutionalization of political parties. Specifically, this weakening occurs in the aspect of internal democratization in terms of carrying out political recruitment functions.

Simultaneous elections in the same year have caused political parties to struggle in preparing candidates for leadership positions who possess capacity and integrity. This is because, according to Heroik, within a relatively short period, political parties must prepare thousands of candidates for legislative members as well as regional heads and their deputies.

That situation has prompted political parties to take a pragmatic approach that is not in line with their ideologies. "Ideology and party values tend to be sidelined because recruitment is transactional in nature. Political parties prioritize financial capital and popularity over presenting the party's key cadres," said Heorik.

With the separation of national and local elections, especially with a gap of 2 to 2.5 years, Heroik continued, political parties have sufficient time to prepare candidates for both national and local elections. Political parties have more time to conduct cadre training and provide preparation to enhance the capacities of prospective legislative members and candidates for leadership in the executive institutions. On the other hand, the community also benefits as they receive a greater number of quality candidates for leadership.

The synchronization of elections and regional head elections, according to Heroik, seems to overshadow local issues related to regional development. This situation arises because voters are too fatigued by the series of simultaneous election processes. The narrow time gap between the elections and the regional head elections causes voters to feel weary of participating again in another political event such as the regional head elections.

The decreasing interest of voters, said Heroik, is evidenced by the decline in voter participation rates. According to the data he collected, the average voter participation in presidential and legislative elections reached 81 percent, while in regional elections it was only 70 percent.

“The low voter turnout indicates voter fatigue with seemingly endless election rallies,” Heroik said.

A similar sentiment was expressed by Senior Researcher at the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) Siti Zuhro. She assessed that the 2024 regional elections feel bland because the commotion has already been ongoing since the presidential and legislative elections. Both political parties and voters are experiencing fatigue from the lengthy series of electoral processes.

To that end, Siti stated, the Constitutional Court's decision will revive the enthusiasm for the regional elections. The community will no longer merely follow the national trend, but will also be able to focus on crucial development issues that are important to be raised in their region. Furthermore, local political space will become more prominent and develop.

"Political parties and candidates in the regions can better elevate local issues. Not merely adhering to national issues. However, this must be balanced so that they do not operate independently. They must synergize with one another," said Siti.

Meanwhile, the Chairman of the General Election Commission of the Republic of Indonesia, Mochammad Afifuddin, stated that a time gap of 2 to 2.5 years is quite ideal for the implementation of elections. He believes that the Constitutional Court's decision serves as a response to the reflections of election organizers from a series of evaluations that have been conducted. The limited time for organizing elections has resulted in a cumulative burden on the organizers all this time.

"With this decision, we aim to optimize ideal aspects in the elections, both in terms of scheduling, the design of synchronization, and the design of the organizers. We envision that this will provide legal certainty and enhance the substance of the election administration," said Afifuddin.