Age Requirements for Regional Head Candidates in the Harmonization Process

The minimum age requirement for regional head candidates is 25 years old for mayor/regent candidates and 30 years old for governor candidates. This is still in the process of being harmonized between the KPU, Bawaslu, and the government. This provision will be contained in the KPU Regulation (PKPU) as a result of the Supreme Court (MA) decision, which changed the age limit for regional head candidates.

“Thus, when there is a provincial, regency, or city KPU, when a prospective candidate is registered with the KPU on August 27–29, we verify their KTP. “In order to be appointed as a candidate on September 22, approximately 25 or 30 years will be fulfilled, which will be at the end of December 2024,” said KPU Chairman Hasyim Asy’ari at the 2024 Simultaneous Regional Election Coordination Meeting in Makassar, which was broadcast on the YouTube channel of the Coordinating Ministry for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs. (26/6).

Previously, the Supreme Court decided that Article 4 paragraph (1) letter d PKPU Number 9 of 2020 concerning Nominations for the Election of Governor and Deputy Governor, Regent and Deputy Regent, and/or Mayor and Deputy Mayor was contrary to Law Number 10 of 2016. Through this, the Supreme Court changed the provisions that those who were originally cagub and deputy cagub were at least 30 years old from the time the candidate pair was determined to be after the inauguration of the candidate.

Hasyim explained that the plan for the new requirements was based on the provisions regarding the simultaneous inauguration of elected regional heads as regulated in Article 164A of the Regional Election Law. He realized that the Supreme Court’s decision Number 23 P/HUM/2024 was quite problematic because the KPU could not determine when the inauguration of regional heads would be held.

“If it’s even time for the inauguration, who decides when the inauguration will be?” It’s no longer the KPU’s domain, but the government’s domain,” said Hasyim.

He said that the simultaneous inauguration of elected regional heads was carried out following the end of the term of office of the previous regional heads. Currently, there is still a definitive regional head from the 2020 regional elections whose term of office will expire at the end of December 2024.

“So if that’s the case, if the voting is on November 27, 2024, the inauguration will probably be after the end of the regional head’s term of office with definitive results from the 2020 regional elections. It could be early 2025, depending on whether there are disputed results in the region or not.” But the picture according to the Regional Election Law is that the end of his term of office is December 2024,” he explained. []