Acting Mayor of Yogyakarta Reported Regarding Plans to Advance Pilkada

Coordinator of the Coalition of Human Rights and Anticorruption Activists in Yogyakarta, Tri Wahyu, stated that Singgih's step of taking a registration form for the Yogyakarta City Regional Elections from one of the political parties is not in accordance with the general principle of good governance. One of these principles relates to the norms of propriety.

This is stipulated in Law No. 28 of 1999 on the Implementation of Clean and Free from Corruption, Collusion, and Nepotism Governance. Article 1 Number 6 of the law states that the general principle of good governance is a principle that upholds ethical norms, appropriateness, and legal norms.

"We view Singgih Raharjo, as a government employee of DIY, who is currently serving as the Acting Mayor of Yogyakarta, as behaving in a partisan manner and having practical political motives that do not align with the general principles," said Tri when met at the Governor's Complex in Yogyakarta on Monday.

He added that as a public servant, Singgih's action of entering the practical political realm is not dignified. "Singgih should be serving the people of Yogyakarta," he said.

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The Coalition of Human Rights and Anti-Corruption Activists in Yogyakarta also highlighted the public service advertisement billboards of the Yogyakarta City Government, which prominently featured Singgih's name and face in several corners of the city. This is suspected to be one of the efforts to boost Singgih's popularity ahead of the upcoming election.

Therefore, the Coalition of Human Rights and Anti-Corruption Activists in Yogyakarta requested the Governor of Yogyakarta to order Singgih to remove all public service advertisements that have self-introduction nuances ahead of the upcoming regional election.

"To the Minister of Home Affairs, we ask to remove Singgih Raharjo from the position of Acting Mayor of Yogyakarta before 22 May 2024 (the end of his term as Acting Mayor) as a form of sanction against partisan ASN ahead of 2024 Pilkada ," he said.

Kompas has tried to ask for Singgih's response regarding the report. However, until this news was published, messages sent via mobile chat services had not been responded to.

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As government employees of the DIY region, we view Singgih Raharjo, as the Acting (Pj) Mayor of Yogyakarta, to have engaged in partisan behavior and having practical political motives.

Met separately, the Secretary of Yogyakarta Special Region Beny Suharsono stated that if it is true that Singgih has returned the registration form for the regional election to a political party, it means he has affiliated himself with the political party. "Yes, we will evaluate. How? We will withdraw, bring it back to our headquarters (DIY Regional Government)," said Beny.

Benny said this was done to maintain the neutrality of ASN in the regional election process. "So that everyone is comfortable in the city (Yogyakarta). "There should be no conflict of interest," he said.

Before being appointed as the Acting Mayor of Yogyakarta on May 22, 2023, Singgih served as the Head of DIY Tourism Department. Singgih's term as Acting Mayor will end on May 22, 2024.

Open registration

Still related to the Yogyakarta City Regional Elections, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle announced the opening of candidate registration for the prospective mayor and deputy mayor of Yogyakarta. The registration that will start on April 29th until May 20th, 2024, is open to both party cadres and external figures.

PDI-P is the winning party 2024 Election in Yogyakarta City by winning 11 of the 40 seats in the Yogyakarta City DPRD. PDI-P is the only party that can nominate its own candidate pair for mayor-deputy mayor in the 2024 Yogyakarta regional elections.

Also read: MK Orders Regional Elections to Still Be Held in November 2024

The requirement for a party to be able to nominate their own candidate is to have 20 percent of the total seats or at least 8 seats in the Yogyakarta City Regional Council. Although they can nominate their own candidates, the Chairman of the Yogyakarta City PDI-P Branch Leadership Council, Eko Suwanto, said that his party is still open to coalition opportunities.

"We are opening up space for dialogue, be it with other parties, community organizations, and community figures. Yogyakarta cannot be built alone, but must be done together," he said.