2018 Makassar mayoral election

The 2018 Makassar mayoral election took place on 27 June 2018 as part of the simultaneous local elections. It was held to elect the mayor of Makassar and the deputy mayor.

2018 Makassar mayoral election

27 June 2018
Turnout	57.5%[1]
Nominee None of the above Munafri Arifuddin Party Golkar Running mate Rachmatika Dewi Popular vote 300,795 264,245 Percentage 53.23 46.77
Mayor before election Mohammad Ramdhan Pomanto Elected Mayor vacant

CEO of Indonesian professional football club PSM Makassar Munafri Arifuddin, who was supported by 8 of 9 political parties in the People's Representative Council, was the only candidate in an uncontested election. Incumbent mayor Mohammad Ramdhan Pomanto initially registered to run for a second term as an independent candidate, but his candidacy was later revoked by a Supreme Court ruling.

Despite running as a single candidate, Afiruddin lost the vote to an empty ballot (kotak kosong), forcing the election to be repeated in 2020 and for an acting mayor to be appointed by the Ministry of Home Affairs.[2] Although a lawsuit was brought to the Constitutional Court, the appeal was rejected, making the election the first in Indonesian electoral history in which an empty ballot won.

Timeline

The KPU set a temporary voter count at 862,731 in March 2018, spread across 15 subdistricts.[3] The voters voted at 2,765 polling stations. A budget of Rp 60 billion (US$4.35 million) was assigned for the election, of which 16.4 billion came from the 2017 budget and the rest from the 2018 fiscal year.[4] Registration for party-backed candidates was opened between 8 and 10 January 2018, while independent candidates were required to register between 22 and 26 November 2017.[5] The campaign period was from 15 February to 24 June, with a three-day election silence before voting on 27 June.[6] The vote itself follows a first past the post system.[7]

The candidates were assigned their ballot numbers on 13 February 2018.[8]

Candidates

Ballot number[8]	Candidate	Position	Running mate	Supporting parties
1	Munafri Arifuddin	CEO of PSM Makassar	Rachmatika Dewi	Nasdem Golkar PDI-P Gerindra Hanura PKS PKB PPP PKPI, PBB Total: 43 seats[9]

Munafri Arifuddin, a member of Golkar[10] and nephew of the then-Vice President Jusuf Kalla,[11] was supported by 10 parties.[12] Also the CEO of the PSM Makassar football club, he had promised to keep this position if elected.[13] Arifuddin's running mate Rachmatika Dewi was a deputy speaker of the city council and the chief of Nasdem in Makassar.[14]

Although initially supported by some political parties, Mohammad Ramdhan Pomanto registered with the KPU as an independent candidate, having collected 117,492 valid copies of ID cards out of the ~65,000 required as an independent candidate.[15] Demokrat was the only party represented in the People's Representative Council that officially supported him. Other parties declared their initial support to him, but withdrew later.[16] His running mate Indira Mulyasari was the deputy speaker of the city council, although she resigned for the election.[17]

In February, the Munafri-Dewi pair sued the local KPU in order to cancel Pomanto's candidacy, citing a case in which Pomanto distributed smartphones while serving as the city's mayor.[18] The South Sulawesi high court on national administration (Pengadilan Tinggi Tata Usaha Negara) on March 21 ordered the KPU to cancel Pomanto's candidacy.[19] The election body then brought the case to the Supreme Court,[20] which upheld the PT TUN decision. Pomanto stated that he would continue pressing his case through the legal system.[21] However, the electoral commission decided to disqualify him following a closed-door meeting,[22] making the election an uncontested one. However, Arifuddin was still required to win a majority of the votes (voters could vote for an empty ballot) or the elections would be redone in 2020.[23]

Polling

After nominations

Pollster	Date	Sample size	Results
Celebes Research Center	1–14 March 2018	1,000	Mohammad Ramdhan Pomanto (71.8%), Munafri Afiruddin (18.8%)

Results

Quick count

Pollster	Munafri-Dewi	None of the above
CRC	46.51	53.49

Official

Votes by subdistrict[24]	Munafri-Dewi		None of the above
	Votes	%	Votes	%
Tamalate	33,817	50.2	33,541	49.8
Tamalanrea	16,912	44.45	21,138	55.55
Ujung Tanah	7,362	46.95	8,317	53.05
Sangkarrang	3,261	47.22	3,645	52.78
Manggala	30,384	52.37	27,631	47.63
Tallo	26,297	47.45	29,122	52.55
Panakkukang	25,069	44.63	31,108	55.37
Makassar	13,654	39.31	21,081	60.69
Biringkanayya	36,092	47.86	39,320	52.14
Ujung Pandang	3,822	34.31	7,319	65.69
Mariso	11,566	47.38	12,845	52.62
Wajo	4,695	37.12	7,954	62.88
Rappocini	27,503	47.49	30,408	52.51
Bontoala	8,598	46.16	10,029	53.84
Mamajang	10,923	44.71	13,509	55.29
Total	259,955	46.68	296,967	53.32

Aftermath

Following the announcement of the results, the Munafri-Dewi campaign team filed a lawsuit to the Constitutional Court, claiming "structured, systematic and massive cheating", accusing Pomanto of having interfered in favor of the "none of the above option" within his capacity as mayor, and demanding that the "none of the above" option/empty column be cancelled.[25] In 10 August, the court ruled against the appeal, hence awarding "victory" for the none of the above option - the first in Indonesian electoral history.[2][26]

References

1. "PENETAPAN HASIL : PILKADA KOTA MAKASSAR". Komisi Pemilihan Umum. Retrieved 16 July 2018.
2. Andayani, Dwi (28 June 2018). "KPU: Kotak Kosong Menang, Pilkada akan Diulang". Detik (in Indonesian). Retrieved 13 August 2018.
3. Arfah, Hasim (18 March 2018). "Pemilih Makassar Anjlok, KPU: Masih Bisa Berubah di DPT". Tribun Timur (in Indonesian). Archived from the original on 18 March 2018. Retrieved 5 April 2018.
4. Wawan (20 September 2017). "Ini Jumlah TPS di Pilwalkot Makassar". Info Sulsel (in Indonesian). Retrieved 5 April 2018.
5. Putra, Putu Merta Surya (8 January 2018). "Pendaftaran Paslon Pilkada 2018 Dibuka, KPU Ingatkan Ikuti Aturan". liputan6 (in Indonesian). Archived from the original on 21 January 2018. Retrieved 14 March 2018.
6. Suryowati, Estu (14 June 2017). "Tahapan Pilkada Serentak 2018 Dimulai, Ini Jadwal Lengkapnya". KOMPAS (in Indonesian). Archived from the original on 12 January 2018. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
7. "Pilkada Serentak dengan Aturan Berbeda, Hanya Jakarta 50% Plus Satu". Media Indonesia (in Indonesian). 24 June 2016. Archived from the original on 28 March 2018. Retrieved 27 March 2018.
8. Padmasari, Salviah Ika (13 February 2018). "Pilwalkot Makassar, incumbent Danny Pomanto dapat nomor urut 2". Merdeka (in Indonesian). Archived from the original on 13 February 2018. Retrieved 6 April 2018.
9. Cipto, Hendra (10 January 2018). "Lawan Petahana, Kerabat Jusuf Kalla Diusung 10 Partai di Pilkada Kota Makassar". KOMPAS (in Indonesian). Archived from the original on 14 January 2018. Retrieved 6 April 2018.
10. Zulkifli, Sutrisno (30 October 2017). "Terungkap, Appi Kini Sudah Jadi Kader Golkar". Rakyatku (in Indonesian). Archived from the original on 14 January 2018. Retrieved 6 April 2018.
11. Cipto, Hendra (28 October 2017). "Golkar Usung Keponakan Jusuf Kalla di Pilkada Makassar". KOMPAS (in Indonesian). Archived from the original on 3 January 2018. Retrieved 6 April 2018.
12. Padmasari, Salviah Ika (10 January 2018). "Diusung 10 partai, Munafri CEO PSM daftar pilwalkot ke KPU Makassar". Merdeka (in Indonesian). Archived from the original on 10 January 2018. Retrieved 6 April 2018.
13. Alimuddin, Abdul Azis (4 October 2017). "Apakah Tetap Memperhatikan PSM Jika Kelak Jadi Wali Kota? Begini Jawaban Munafri Arifuddin". Tribun Timur (in Indonesian). Archived from the original on 29 July 2018. Retrieved 6 April 2018.
14. Maswatu, Suryadi (6 November 2017). "Bakal Calon Wali Kota Makassar, Rachmatika Dewi Dokter Gigi yang Terjun ke Panggung Politik". Rakyat Sulsel (in Indonesian). Archived from the original on 29 July 2018. Retrieved 6 April 2018.
15. Munsir, Ibnu (30 December 2017). "Pasangan Danny-Indira Lolos Maju Peseorangan di Pilwalkot Makassar". Detik (in Indonesian). Archived from the original on 31 July 2018. Retrieved 6 April 2018.
16. Zulkifli, Sutrisno (25 February 2018). "Istimewakan Demokrat, Danny Pomanto Cerita Parpol yang Tinggalkan Dirinya". Rakyatku (in Indonesian). Archived from the original on 31 July 2018. Retrieved 6 April 2018.
17. Alimuddin, Abdul Azis (17 January 2018). "Maju di Pilwali, Indira Mulyasari Resmi Mundur dari Wakil Ketua DPRD Makassar". Tribun Timur (in Indonesian). Archived from the original on 17 January 2018. Retrieved 6 April 2018.
18. Mulyana, Kurniawan Eka (20 February 2018). "Soal Gugatan Terhadap Penetapan KPU, Danny: Itu Melecehkan RT-RW". SINDOnews (in Indonesian). Archived from the original on 27 April 2018. Retrieved 6 April 2018.
19. Alfian (21 March 2018). "PT TUN Perintahkan Diskualifikasi Danny-Indira, Ternyata Inilah 3 Kesalahan Sang Petahana". Tribun Timur (in Indonesian). Archived from the original on 21 March 2018. Retrieved 6 April 2018.
20. Rakhmatulloh (27 March 2018). "Demi Tegaknya Demokrasi, Danny Pomanto Anggap Kasasi KPU Wajar". SINDOnews.com (in Indonesian). Archived from the original on 27 April 2018. Retrieved 6 April 2018.
21. Prayoga, Fadel (26 April 2018). "Kasasi KPUD Ditolak MA, Danny Pomanto Siap Lakukan Perlawanan". Okezone (in Indonesian). Archived from the original on 26 April 2018. Retrieved 26 April 2018.
22. "Island focus: Incumbent disqualified from Makassar race". The Jakarta Post. 30 April 2018. Archived from the original on 5 May 2018. Retrieved 4 May 2018.
23. Cipto, Hendra (26 April 2018). "Calon Petahana Gugur di MA, Pilkada Makassar Lawan Kotak Kosong". KOMPAS (in Indonesian). Archived from the original on 5 May 2018. Retrieved 4 May 2018.
24. "Hasil Rekap 15 Kecamatan Makassar: Kolom Kosong Menang". Terkini (in Indonesian). 4 July 2018. Retrieved 31 July 2018.
25. Taufiqqurahman, Muhammad (11 July 2018). "Kotak Kosong Menang di Pilwalkot Makassar, Appi-Cicu Gugat ke MK". Detik (in Indonesian). Retrieved 13 August 2018.
26. Taufiqqurahman, Muhammad (10 August 2018). "MK Menangkan Kotak Kosong di Pilwalkot Makassar!". Detik (in Indonesian). Retrieved 13 August 2018.