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Uncontested elections hurt democracy, smaller parties
Political analysts have noted a growing trend in candidates running unopposed in regional elections across the country, reversing a positive trend since the first direct regional elections were held that may undermine democratic values.
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Members of an indigenous group attend on July 17 a promotional event for the 2024 simultaneous regional elections, which will be held on Nov. 27, in Tasikmalaya regency, West Java. (Antara/Adeng Bustomi)
An ongoing effort to engineer a grand alliance for the simultaneous regional elections in November has raised concerns over candidates running uncontested, a growing trend that analysts say potentially undermines democratic values and removes smaller parties’ chances of playing larger roles in the country’s political landscape.
The grand alliance refers to the Onward Indonesia Coalition (KIM), a big tent electoral alliance that backed Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto in the February presidential election. Its ability to woo rival parties into its fold has sparked anxiety among political observers and candidates.
In a discussion on Thursday, Edbert Gani, a researcher at Jakarta-based Centre for Strategic and International Studies’ (CSIS) politics and social change department, said that Indonesia had seen a growing trend of uncontested ballots over the last three regional elections; reversing a positive trend since the first direct regional elections were first held.
According to him, at least two candidates on average contested local races; a display of potentially good competition at the regional level.
However, “the uncontested race phenomenon has grown in the last few elections,” Gani said.
“This is what we need to monitor and look out for together across 545 regions in the upcoming election,” he continued.
Read also: Pro-Prabowo parties to reunite for regional elections
