More libur: Government set to approve national holiday for regional elections on June 27

As if we need more time off after that lengthy Eid holiday, the government is generously going to bless us with another holiday next Wednesday for the nationwide regional elections.

The day off on June 27 is still pending approval from President Joko Widodo himself, but the government says that is now a matter of when rather than if.

“The State Secretariat is putting together the Presidential Decision (Keppres),” said Home Affairs Ministry head of Public Relations Bahtiar, as quoted by CNN Indonesia today.

There are precedents for such a holiday. In 2015 and 2017, during the first editions of the nationwide regional elections, the government introduced national holidays on election days. On both occasions, the decision was made close to the election days, like this year.

Residents from 171 regions, including 17 gubernatorial elections and 39 mayoral elections, are scheduled to go to the polls throughout Indonesia on June 27. Some of the most notable elections include the West Java, Central Java and East Java gubernatorial elections. Jakarta’s satellite cities of Tangerang, Bekasi and Bogor are also going to choose new mayors.

Indonesia is still in the process of standardizing the date of its regional elections, with the aim of all regions in the country holding an election on the same date starting from 2027. Therefore, expect more holidays for regional elections in the near future.

The next official public holiday for an election will be for the presidential election on April 17, 2019.



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