2024 Indonesian Local Elections

Local executive elections ( Indonesian: ''Pemilihan Kepala Daerah'' or Pilkada) to elect governors, mayors and regents in Indonesia were held on 27 November 2024 across 545 regions: 37 provinces, 415 regencies and 93 cities, which covered all provinces except Yogyakarta Special Region and all cities/regencies except the constituents of Jakarta. The previous local executive elections were held in 2020. The elections was the first time regional leaders are all elected simultaneously nationwide in Indonesia.

The elections saw major gains for President Prabowo Subianto's Gerindra party, while the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle suffered losses in key races, especially in Central and East Java. Golkar and PKS also suffered setbacks. Most elected leaders were sworn in on 20 February 2025, but 26 races had to be repeated in 2025.

Background

Indonesia began electing regional leaders through direct elections in 2005, and between 2015 and 2020, all regional elections held in the year were held at the same date. In 2016, a law was passed which made all regional elections starting in 2024 to be held on the same date. As a consequence, regional leaders elected in 2017 and 2018 would be replaced by appointed officials after the end of their term until the 2024 elections are held. On the other hand, regional leaders elected in 2020 would only serve for less than a full five-year term, ranging from three to four years. On 24 January 2022, the House of Representatives agreed to set the date of the 2024 local elections at 27 November 2024.

The elections are regulated by the Law No. 10 of 2016 on local elections.

Timeline

Candidates

All candidates are required to be, at minimum, graduates of senior high school or equivalent. Any approved candidates are required to resign from certain government positions, including legislative offices, Armed Forces/Police positions, civil servants, and employees of state-owned companies. The minimum age is 30 for gubernatorial candidates and 25 for mayor/regent candidates. Furthermore, a two-term limit applies including for different regions, and former governors/regents/mayors are not allowed to run for vice-leader of their previous position. On 30 May 2024, the Supreme Court of Indonesia ruled that the age limit applied to the age of the candidates ''on the date of swearing in'' should they win the election (which are expected to take place in 2025), instead of the registration date of the election. In particular, this change allowed Kaesang Pangarep, son of 7th Indonesian President Joko Widodo, to contest gubernatorial elections. A ruling by the Constitutional Court of Indonesia reverted the criteria, setting the age benchmark to be the date of the official confirmation of candidates.

The General Elections Commission (KPU) initially noted that legislators newly elected in the 2024 Indonesian legislative election did not need to resign, however, this was later rescinded and elected legislators will also be required to resign. Candidates can either run as an independent or a party-backed candidate. To run with party backing, the candidate is required to secure the formal support of a party or a coalition of parties which collectively hold at least 20 percent of seats in the relevant Regional House of Representatives (DPRD) ''or'' between 6.5 and 10 percent of votes in the 2024 legislative election in the area, depending on the population.

Independent candidates are required to submit photocopies of identity cards as proof of support, numbering between 6.5 and 10 percent of the registered electorate in a given region. According to KPU, 168 independent candidates nationwide registered, down from 203 which registered for the 2020 elections. For all gubernatorial elections, eleven pairs of independent candidates registered, of which two pairs are confirmed to have submitted sufficient proofs. One of the two resigned, leaving just one pair of independent candidates running for governor ( Dharma Pongrekun in Jakarta).

In total, KPU approved 1,553 pairs of candidates, including 103 gubernatorial tickets, 284 mayoral tickets, and 1,166 regency tickets. After they had been approved, but prior to the election date, at least five candidates had died, including North Maluku gubernatorial candidate Benny Laos who died in a speedboat explosion. The other deaths include three vice-gubernatorial candidates (in Aceh, South Papua and Central Papua) and a vice-regent candidate (in Ciamis, West Java). A further four tickets were disqualified: one gubernatorial ticket (Southwest Papua), two mayoral tickets ( Metro and Banjarbaru), and one regency (Fakfak).

Electoral system

All local elections in 2024 except for the Jakarta gubernatorial election follow the first-past-the-post system where the candidate with the most votes wins the election, even if they do not win a majority. The gubernatorial election for Jakarta requires a runoff should no candidates achieve a simple majority. It is possible for a candidate to run uncontested, in which case the candidate is still required to win a majority of votes "against" an " empty box" option. Should the candidate fail to do so, the election will be repeated on a later date. There were 37 single-candidate races against "empty box" options in 2024, and in the Banjarbaru mayoral election, a single-candidate race as the disqualified alternate candidate's votes were considered invalid.

Controversies

Central government appointment of officials as acting executives due to the election synchronization has been criticized for the lack of transparency, with almost half of Indonesia's regions being governed by the appointees at the time of the election. KPU's decision to set just five days (8 to 12 May) to allow registration of independent candidates was also criticized for being too short, with a prospective gubernatorial candidate in Jakarta filing a suit with the General Election Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu) over the decision.

The ruling by the Supreme Court regarding the eligibility of candidates by age was also criticized for benefiting Kaesang and was compared to a similar decision by the Constitutional Court of Indonesia in the lead-up to the 2024 Indonesian presidential election, which enabled Gibran Rakabuming Raka, Kaesang's older brother, to run as Vice President of Indonesia.

Races

Gubernatorial

Gubernatorial elections are held in all of Indonesia's provinces, except for the Special Region of Yogyakarta where the Sultan of Yogyakarta and the Duke of Pakualam are automatically the governor and vice-governor, respectively.

Mayoral

Elections for mayors are held in all cities, except for the five cities which are constituents of Jakarta with their mayors being appointed by the Governor of Jakarta. The table below contains all mayoral races, sorted by population in descending order.

Regency

Elections for regents are held in all regencies, except for Thousand Islands Regency which is a constituent of Jakarta and has its regent appointed by the Governor of Jakarta.

Sumatra

Java

Kalimantan

Lesser Sunda

Sulawesi

Maluku

Papua

Results

Summary

This table lists elected candidates based on their political party affiliation at the time of the election. Candidates which are not a member of any political party are listed as independent regardless of endorsements from political parties.

Analysis

Prabowo's party Gerindra made significant gains in gubernatorial races, placing party members in the governorships of North Sumatra, Banten, West Java, and Central Java among others. Despite being in a national coalition with Gerindra, second-largest party Golkar lost the governorships of Banten and West Java, and failed to regain Riau.

The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) suffered major defeats in the gubernatorial races for Central Java and East Java – provinces which had previously been considered as their strongholds. This was attributed to the direct participation of Joko Widodo and Prabowo Subianto in campaigning for Ahmad Luthfi and Khofifah Indar Parawansa in the two respective provinces. However, PDI-P retained the governorship of Bali and regained Jakarta. The Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) also suffered defeats in its erstwhile strongholds in West Java and the Greater Jakarta area, losing the mayoralty of Depok which had been held by PKS since the first election in 2006.

Ten incumbent governors running for re-election were defeated. In the mayoral and regency elections for Pangkalpinang and Bangka Regency, the incumbent candidates running uncontested failed to win 50 percent of votes against blank boxes, with repeat elections being scheduled for September 2025.

Voter turnout was recorded at about 71 percent, a significant decline from 76 percent in the 2020 local elections and 81 percent in the February 2024 general election.

Aftermath

After voting at his registered polling station in Bojong Koneng, West Java, President Prabowo Subianto viewed that the election process was conducted smoothly. He asked all Indonesians to vote for their preferred candidates and for all candidates to work together no matter whoever won the election in their respective regions. Prabowo also expressed his hopes that any criticisms on the electoral process may be used to improve the next election cycle. Former President Joko Widodo congratulated to winning candidates, advising them to "not be arrogant if they win," while advising the losing candidates to accept the results with grace. He also praised the electoral process, saying that it was smooth and calm overall.

Former President and current PDI-P chairwoman Megawati Sukarnoputri expressed her thoughts after watching results trickling from various regions such as Banten, North Sumatra, East Java, Central Java and North Sulawesi. She criticised the result of some elections as unfair and worried that the sovereignty of the people were being manipulated. She expressed her disappointment at the results, particularly in the Central Java gubernatorial election, as she believed that her party nominee, Andika Perkasa and Hendrar Prihadi would have won if the election was conducted fairly. In response to PDI-P's claims of elections being stolen, PSI satirically advices PDI-P to accept the results with grace and reflect instead of throwing tantrums.

Lawsuits

By 11 December 2024, the Constitutional Court of Indonesia reported that 240 lawsuits related to the election results had been filed with the court. By February 2025, 310 had been filed in total, with 270 being dismissed before trial. Of the 40 remaining cases, three were gubernatorial elections ( Bangka Belitung, Papua and Highland Papua), three mayoral elections (Palopo, Sabang, and Banjarbaru), and the remaining 34 regency elections. The remaining elected governors, mayor and regents will be sworn in simultaneously on 20 February 2025 in Jakarta.

Following constitutional court rulings, 24 repeat votes would be held: one gubernatorial (Papua), three mayoral, and 20 regency. Out of the 26 elections, fourteen involved a complete repeat election covering all polling stations, while the others are limited to either certain districts or precincts.

Notes

References

General

Election results

{{Indonesian elections

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Election and referendum articles with incomplete results