Legitimasi Penjabat Kepala Daerah

Abstract

Legitimacy is the main foundation of regional government administration. The mechanism of direct regional head elections has become an important instrument for upholding the principle of people's sovereignty as affirmed in Article 1 paragraph (2) of the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia. Legitimacy issues arise when regional heads are appointed by the central government rather than elected democratically. This situation has become increasingly relevant following Constitutional Court Decision No. 135/PUU-XXII/2024 on the separation of national and local elections, which will result in a simultaneous vacancy of regional head positions in 2029. This study employs a normative-legal approach with qualitative analysis through an examination of legislation, Constitutional Court rulings, and relevant academic literature. The findings indicate that the legitimacy of acting local government heads is merely legal-formal and administrative in nature, and does not fully reflect the principles of participatory democracy. This differs from directly elected local heads, who obtain dual legitimacy: legal formal and substantive democratic. The mechanism for appointing acting local heads should be positioned as a transitional solution, not a permanent one, to ensure that the principle of popular sovereignty remains intact.