REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- The government has cancelled a plan to appoint two active high-ranking officials as acting governors of West Java and North Sumatra, respectively, as the incumbents are running for the second term. The government will take another policy regarding the matter, Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Wiranto said here on Tuesday, after opening a coordinating meeting on simultaneous regional head elections (pilkada).

Initially, the government had planned to appoint Inspector General Martuani Sormin as acting governor of North Sumatra and Inspector General Mochamad Iriawan as acting governor of West Java. They were considered as being capable of dealing with any problems and securing the third pilkada, which is to be held simultaneously across Indonesia on June 27, 2018.

However, the plan has triggered a controversy as many parties opposed it out of concern that it would affect the police neutrality in pilkada.

"The government has listened to the public aspirations. If a policy triggers a reaction of the public, and the reaction is reasonable and make sense, then it would be listened and met," the minister remarked.

The pilkada will be organized simultaneously in 171 regions, comprising of 13 provinces, 39 municipalities, and 115 districts, across Indonesia.

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