Indonesia parliament seeks to change rules to allow election delays

Indonesia’s parliament plans to amend the constitution to allow elections to be delayed in the event of an emergency, a deputy speaker said on Wednesday, but any change would only be discussed after the scheduled 2024 vote.
Indonesia, the world’s third-largest democracy, must hold national elections every five years, with the next vote scheduled for Feb. 14.
There are currently no rules for any delay.
But some of President Joko Widodo’s allies have publicly endorsed postponing the elections to extend the president’s second and final term to give him time to finish projects delayed by the COVID pandemic.
The issue of extending a president’s tenure has sparked lively debate in Indonesia, with critics fearing it could undo years of democratic reforms after the end of President Suharto’s authoritarian rule in 1998.
University of Indonesia election researcher Titi Anggraini said there was no urgency to propose the amendment and the speaker of the MPR upper house of parliament, Bambang Soesatyo, said it would be proposed only after the February election.