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Simultaneous elections: RI's canal of democratization
Legally and politically eligible Indonesians are scheduled to come to the polling booth and cast their votes in the first ever simultaneous direct regental and mayoral elections on Dec
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Legally and politically eligible Indonesians are scheduled to come to the polling booth and cast their votes in the first ever simultaneous direct regental and mayoral elections on Dec. 9, 2015. This political experiment is meant as a litmus test for the future organization of much larger simultaneous general elections from the lowest regency and mayoralty level to the national level of the country's legislative bodies and executive figures. The Jakarta Post's Ika Krismantari, Margareth S. Aritonang and Imanuddin Razak take a closer look into its preparations and implications for national politics and governance.
The decision to turn to simultaneous direct elections of the country's regional regents and mayors did not come overnight. The decision process was a long and arduous one and involved an intense debate on the proposal that the organization of direct regional elections be returned to the regional-election system based on voting by members of Regional Legislative Councils (DPRDs).
Even though the decision to retain such direct regional elections and organize them simultaneously on the same day was made in a plenary meeting of the House of Representatives (DPR) on Feb. 17, 2015, the government, via the country's general elections commission (KPU), will only be able to organize elections in 269 regencies and provinces in nine provinces this time around out of a total of 514 regencies and mayoralties in 34 provinces.
The next phase of simultaneous regional elections involving about 200 regencies and mayoralties will therefore be held in 2017 and the third and final phase of regional elections involving about a hundred regencies and mayoralties will be held in 2018.
Direct elections for regions were first introduced in 2005 after the fall of Soeharto in 1998 paved the way for a set of laws and regulations that strengthened regional autonomy, including the direct-election system for regional leaders.
Prior to the DPR's political decision on simultaneous direct regional elections, the nation witnessed tough debates and lectures on the issue. The first challenge to the organization of direct regional elections came from the government itself.
It was then Home Affairs Minister Gamawan Fauzi who in 2010 raised the idea of changing the mechanism for the election of regional heads to allow the Regional Representatives Council (DPRD), rather than the people, to elect the governors, the regents and the mayors in direct elections.
The minister shared the opinion of former regional autonomy minister, Ryaas Rasyid, who said that the 2004 law on regional administration (which was used as a reference at the time the idea was raised) did not specifically mention direct regional elections but only stipulated that they must be democratically held.
The idea was raised following reports of poor coordination and relations between governors at the provincial level and regents and mayors at the lower regency and mayoralty level. Regents and mayors argued that they should not have to obey governors as regencies and mayoralties had become autonomous regions, structurally separated from provincial administrations.
It was proposed also in connection with rampant cases of corruption committed by these directly elected regents and mayors. Minister Gamawan revealed that 321 regents and mayors had been implicated and convicted for corruption. All of these were believed to have been associated with reports of rampant cases of vote-buying during direct elections.
The idea faced strong opposition from a large part of the public because it was seen as undemocratic. The idea failed to resonate and attract widespread attention until the new government was elected in 2014. A majority of the House membership ' represented by the Red-and-White Coalition in the national legislative assembly, which are essentially opposition political parties ' 'reiterated' the idea a few days before the 2009-2014 House membership term ended on Sept. 30, 2014.
Among the arguments provided by the coalition was that indirect elections through the DPRDs would prevent people from vote buying and that if the DPRD members became corrupt, it would be much easier for the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) to monitor and prosecute them.
The idea, however, once again received strong legal counter-arguments. One of them was from the President-elect Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo himself, who threw his support behind efforts to maintain direct elections for regional heads.
Jokowi, who was inaugurated President a month later, said that had regional elections been returned to the councils, he would not have been able to advance beyond his first post as mayor of Surakarta. He also added that a representative-based electoral system would undermine the country's blossoming democracy.
Although it was proposed for a slightly different purpose ' promoting transparency and justice particularly in the event of a presidential election ' the term 'simultaneous' and the idea of organizing simultaneous elections came to the limelight earlier in January 2014 when the Constitutional Court ruled that different dates for the presidential and legislative election caused rampant horse-trading and inefficiency. The court also ruled that Indonesia would hold the presidential election and legislative election concurrently starting in 2019.
The court was ruling on a judicial review filed by the Coalition of Civil Society for Simultaneous Elections challenging the Presidential Election Law. The coalition members include political communication expert Effendi Ghazali, anti-graft expert Saldi Isra, constitutional law expert Irman Putra Sidin, political analyst Hamdi Muluk and activist Ray Rangkuti. The coalition filed the review on Jan. 10, 2013, to challenge Law No. 42/2008, which holds that legislative and presidential elections must be held at least three months apart.
A similar judicial review filed by former law and human rights minister and senior leader of the Crescent Star Party (PBB) Yusril Ihza Mahendra in December 2013 demanded that concurrent presidential and legislative elections be held in 2014. The review, however, was rejected by the court. In its verdict, the court declared that a simultaneous election in 2014 would create 'chaos and legal uncertainty'.
Now, as the whole nation gears up for the first phase of simultaneous regional elections, a success in the organization of the elections this time ' with peaceful, transparent, fair and accountable organization as the indicators ' would serve as valuable capital not only for the organization of the second and third phases of simultaneous regional elections, but also for the organization of concurrent presidential and legislative elections in 2019 as the mandatory January 2014 ruling of the Constitutional Court has stipulated. Success, in other words, would promote and extend the ongoing democratization in the country.
