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Ex-president SBY claims 2024 election being ʻtampered with’

The Democratic Party leader alleged that the upcoming election was in danger of becoming “dishonest and unfair”.

Yerica Lai (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Thu, September 22, 2022

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Ex-president SBY claims 2024 election being ʻtampered with’

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s the country inches closer to the 2024 presidential election, political jockeying among party elites has taken a new turn, with former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono accusing the political establishment of plotting to prevent his Democratic Party from nominating a candidate.

At the Democrats’ leadership meeting last week, party founder Yudhoyono said he had received information that the coming election would be fixed so that only two presidential and vice presidential candidate pairs would participate.

"My friends, why should I show up again ahead of the 2024 general election? I’ve heard and learned of indications that the 2024 election could be dishonest and unfair," Yudhoyono said in a video posted on social media by the head of the party's North Sumatra branch.

"Reportedly, the presidential election will be tampered with by those who want only two pairs of presidential candidates and running mates of their choosing," he said. "[I heard that] the Democrats, as the opposition, would never [be allowed to] nominate their own candidate [pair] for president and vice president – even with coalition partners.”

Yudhoyono, who is often referred to by his initials SBY, stressed that no individual or organization should be allowed to orchestrate election processes for its own benefit because elections were meant to represent the will of the people.

“And remember that during our two-term administration we had two general elections, including presidential elections, and the Democrats never committed such an evil deed,” he said.

Yudhoyono's remarks came after Democratic Party deputy chairman Benny Kabur Harman told the media that there were “invisible hands” trying to prevent Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan, often seen as the strongest challenger to pro-government candidates, from running in the 2024 presidential election.

Anies was recently summoned by Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) investigators, who have been investigating graft allegations surrounding the Formula E electric motorsports race, one of his flagship programs and a long-standing bone of contention for his political foes.

The Democrats have approached another opposition party – the Islam-based Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) – and the pro-government NasDem Party for a potential alliance in 2024. While there is no formal agreement between the three parties, they appear united by their apparent inclination to nominate Anies for the nation’s top job.

Some senior members of the Democrats’ regional branches have suggested pairing the party’s chairman and SBY's eldest son Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono with Anies, either as a vice presidential or presidential candidate.

SBY’s allegations drew a strong reaction from the ruling Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), which has been open about its wish to see a two-horse race with a one-round election and which has suggested “consolidation” and “cooperation” among political parties to pull it off.

PDI-P secretary-general Hasto Kristiyanto fired back on Sunday, accusing Yudhoyono of playing the victim card in an attempt to give his party an electoral boost.

“What SBY said actually shows his concern that if there are two pairs of candidates, then [Agus] cannot enter [the race]. [Therefore, he claims it is] an instrument of blocking. That must be straightened out," Hasto said.

He claimed the “peak of electoral fraud” had occurred under Yudhoyono’s own administration, citing “the use of state instruments to win” and “infiltration of party agents into the General Elections Commission [KPU]” during the 2009 presidential election.

“The proof is [former KPU commissioners] Anas Urbaningrum and Andi Nurpati, who were later recruited by the Democratic Party,” Hasto added.

Hadar Nafis Gumay, a senior researcher at the Network for Democracy and Electoral Integrity (Netgrit), said presidential candidate arrangements engineered by the political establishment were the consequence of what he described as "anti-democratic" election laws.

Prevailing laws require a political party to have won at least 25 percent of the vote in the 2019 national legislative election or to hold 20 percent of the seats in the House of Representatives to be eligible to field a 2024 presidential candidate on its own. Parties can pool their votes or their House seats to jointly nominate a candidate pair.

“The main objective is to win the election, so [parties will] look for the strongest composition of political alliances and [will seek to] make their opponents’ alliance small or make them unable to form an alliance. [This tendency] grew stronger in the last election,” Hadar said.

Alliance-building had grown more elitist in recent years as well, Hadar said.

“Political parties often do not involve their members. Only party elites determine [candidates]. The people are left far behind.”

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