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Indonesia’s democracy awaits the final act in Constitutional Court drama
The integrity of the election has been compromised by the very institution that is supposed to guard it.
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Eight Constitutional Court justices (right) deliver their rulings on the 2024 presidential election result dispute in a hearing on April 22, 2024. The court rejected all petitions filed by losing presidential candidate pair Anies Baswedan-Muhaimin Iskandar and Ganjar Pranowo-Mahfud MD. (Antara/M Risyal Hidayat)
The April 22 ruling by the Constitutional Court (MK), which settled once and for all the dispute in the February presidential election, should in no way be taken as the final act in the court drama whose live telecast was followed, blow by blow in every episode, by the nation at large.
For the drama to end there would be a huge anticlimax. Everyone who has closely followed it knows some of the unresolved issues are far more important than just knowing that the winner is Prabowo Subianto with running mate Gibran Rakabuming Raka. The stakes in the real-life drama are our democracy and the wellbeing of the nation. We deserve a better ending.
Contrary to what many believe, the central characters in this Constitutional Court drama are not Prabowo or the two losing candidates Anies Baswedan and Ganjar Pranowo, not even President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, whose name was mentioned several times during the court hearings.
The main characters are the eight justices of the court. Their decision on the election dispute is final and binding, making them even more instrumental than the voters in determining who should lead this nation, and consequently, the fate of the nation’s 280 million people.
The real story of this drama should be about their characters, personalities and behaviors. Their April 22 ruling was only an outcome of their actions during and before the court hearings of the election disputes. The process behind this drama can shed light on the state of our democracy and where it is heading.
If the elections and their results are real, with real impacts on democracy and people’s lives, the court hearing looked more like a made-for-TV drama. Add some sex scenes here and there, and voilà, you have the perfect plot for a complete 12-episode drama fit for Netflix.
The court hearing, however, did show that we have a functioning democracy. We had an election on Feb. 14, and the General Elections Commission (KPU) announced the results on March 20. Ganjar and Anies then filed a complaint with the court alleging fraud and disputing the results. They wanted a revote.
