Luhut Says Jokowi Has Heart, May Postpone Regional Head Election If People’s Safety Is In Danger

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com – The Vice President of Covid-19 Management and National Economic Recovery, Luhut Binsar Panjaitan, emphasized that the president may decide to postpone the 2020 regional elections if the cases of Covid-19 in the country continue to increase and endanger the security of the community.

“It could be that tomorrow the president suddenly, after evaluating the report, we all suddenly make another decision,” Luhut said in an interview. channel YouTube Mata Najwa, Rabu (9/23/2020).

Kompas.com has asked Najwa Shihab for permission to quote his interview with Luhut. Luhut said that the decision of the government and the DPR to retain Pilkada on December 9 could be rectified by President Jokowi.

“There are still higher constitutional rights for the president,” he said.

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Luhut also emphasized that the president really thinks about the safety of his people.

Therefore, President Jokowi will not sacrifice the safety of the people for the political contest.

“We will see. If the trend is like this, the president is a human who has a heart. Najwa or I are no more sensitive than the president in the context of the security of his people. He is very responsible. I guarantee it,” he said.

Reportedly, DPR Commission II and the government represented by the Interior Minister agreed that Pilkada 2020 would still be held on December 9.

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One reason is that the Covid-19 pandemic in the country is still considered under control.

However, Commission II requested that the implementation of the Covid-19 protocol be carried out accordingly and violators must receive strict sanctions. This decision of the government and Commission II of the DPR contradicts the input of various community organizations such as the UN and Muhammadiyah who have called for the local elections to be postponed for the sake of public safety.

As of Wednesday (9/23/2020) yesterday, there were still 4,465 new cases of Covid-19. The addition brought the total number of Covid-19 cases in Indonesia to 257,388 people.

The number of Covid-19 patients who declared themselves cured reached 187,958. Meanwhile, the death rate from Covid-19 in Indonesia reached 9,977 people.