Jakarta, IO – Speaker of the House of Representatives Puan Maharani stressed that the House had confirmed the general election date as February 14, 2024. She made the statement to address the issue of election postponement, broached by several general party chairmen and public officials. “February 14, 2024, is in the mechanism that has been running. Let’s agree on this, so that we can carry it out as optimally as possible,” said Puan at a press conference in the Senayan Parliament Complex, Jakarta, Tuesday (3/15/2022).
Puan continued that the House is committed to providing a budget for election organizers to overcome the problems occurring in the previous election. The 2019 election, in particular, offers valuable lessons for the upcoming elections. “The 2019 election must be a learning experience and evaluation so that problematic matters will not recur,” she said.
The House Speaker also hoped that the elected KPU (the General Elections Commission) and Bawaslu (the Election Supervisory Body) members who will be inaugurated by President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo can run a better election. They should properly outline the election stages to meet public expectations.
Puan also refuted the claim made by Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan that the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle’s (PDIP) voters supported the postponement of the 2024 election.
As PDIP Central Executive Board chairwoman, Puan asserted that the party has its own private data on voters’ attitudes regarding the 2024 election postponement issue. She added that PDIP’s data is not related to Luhut’s data. “Our data is big data,” Puan said.
PDIP Secretary-General Hasto Kristiyanto also questioned Luhut’s capacity with the data reveal. He challenged Luhut to justify his statement academically.
“There should not be any ministers voicing a different opinion. The president has firmly and repeatedly stated his position, and the Government has agreed on the February 14, 2024 election,” said Hasto. He also questioned why Luhut, as a public official who reports to the President, created an issue that caused a ripple in the national political situation.
Luhut previously claimed that big data containing conversations of 110 million people on social media supported the proposed 2024 election postponement and the extension of the presidential term of office. (des)