Election watchdog urges Indonesian President to postpone regional polls to halt Covid-19 spread

A man dips his finger in indelible ink in Denpasar, Bali, after voting in the Bali gubernatorial election in 2018. (JP/Anggara Mahendra)

JAKARTA, March 30 (The Jakarta Post/ANN) -- The Association for Elections and Democracy (Perludem) has called on President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo to issue a regulation in lieu of law (Perppu) following the General Elections Commission’s (KPU) decision to postpone several preparatory steps for the simultaneous regional elections due to the spread of COVID-19 in the country.

“Postponing the 2020 regional elections should be one of the government’s top priorities to halt the spread of Covid-19, so the President should support the idea by issuing a Perppu, ” Perludem executive director Titi Anggraini said in a statement last Saturday.