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Jokowi's reformist credentials in question
With the passing of a law revision that would weaken the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) and the imminent passing of a draconian revision to the Criminal Code (KUHP), concerns have been raised over whether President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's leadership is moving toward a resurgence of the New Order regime
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span>With the passing of a law revision that would weaken the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) and the imminent passing of a draconian revision to the Criminal Code (KUHP), concerns have been raised over whether President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's leadership is moving toward a resurgence of the New Order regime.
Yet amid mounting fears of democratic backsliding, a controversial letter allegedly from Trisakti University detailing plans to award Jokowi with the title Putera Reformasi (Son of the Reform) circulated on social media over the weekend, putting Jokowi's reformist credentials under further public scrutiny.
Trisakti University rector Ali Ghufron Mukti did not immediately respond to The Jakarta Post's calls and text messages requesting confirmation of the authenticity of the letter, which has sparked criticism.
Human rights activist and Trisakti alumnus Haris Azhar tweeted a photo of the letter on Saturday, asking what the grounds were for awarding the President with such a title.
"Did President Jokowi resolve the case of the Trisakti student shooting?" he said, referring to the four Trisakti University students who were shot by police during a protest in May 1998.
Gerindra Party spokesperson Andre Rosiade, also a Trisakti alumnus, criticized the plan for the award, also citing the President's failure to resolve the Trisakti Tragedy.
"Pak Jokowi benefited from the Reform Era; [he's] not a son of the Reform Era," he said on Sunday. "In the Jokowi era, the spirit of the Reform Era has started to diminish. Freedom of expression is decreasing. The KPK Law was revised, even though the spirit of the Reform Era was to eradicate corruption."
IKAUSAKTI, a Trisakti University alumni association, sent a letter to the university, a copy of which was seen by the Post, criticizing the award, saying that the university was an educational institution, not a political one.
News of the award emerged only days after hundreds of students and other protesters took to the streets in Jakarta to condemn the passing of a new KPK Law and call for a halt to the passing of the KUHP bill.
Students from various universities gathered outside the House of Representatives complex and hung a banner on its front gate proclaiming, "This building has been confiscated by the students". The scene was reminiscent of massive pro-democracy protests that preceded the fall of former president Soeharto in May 1998.
While the protesters aimed most of their ire at the House, the President was also roundly criticized for allowing the bills to get as far as they did. Activists at the weekly Kamisan protest in front of the State Palace yelled out chants calling Jokowi a "fascist" and "antidemocratic".
The new KPK Law was passed in an unprecedented show of speed by the House, only six days after Jokowi sent a presidential letter that kick-started deliberations on Sept. 11.
Critics are concerned that the pending KUHP bill will be passed in a similar fashion, as it contains articles that activists and experts say will lead to overcriminalization and severely limit democratic expression.
Besides the much-publicized ban on extramarital sexual relations, the bill would also resurrect articles prohibiting "attacks on the dignity of the president and vice president" and "insults toward the legitimate government", which were struck down by Constitutional Court decisions in 2006 and 2007, respectively.
Jokowi has responded to increasing public pressure by calling for the House to halt the passing of the bill, previously scheduled for Tuesday, just before the end of the 2014-2019 legislative term, even though the bill had been proposed and drafted by the Jokowi administration in the first place.
The move has done little to appease critics, however, and further student protests are planned for Monday in Yogyakarta and other cities across the country. The hashtag #GejayanMemanggil (#GejayanCalls), referring to a street where student protesters gathered in 1998, was trending on Twitter almost all of Sunday.
Presidential staffer Ali Mochtar Ngabalin said the Executive Office of the President and the State Secretariat had yet to receive the letter, but added that there was nothing wrong with the university wanting to give an award to the President.
"But the President himself has not asked for any awards," Ali told the Post on Sunday.
When asked about unflattering comparisons between Jokowi and former president Soeharto, Ali said it was up to the people to judge for themselves.
"As always, the President will answer the accusations with real work and results that will show the criticisms are just fantasies of those who seek to disparage him."
Rallies against the perceived return of the New Order came amid rising consensus among academics that Indonesia's democracy is facing a setback, particularly in the lead up to the 2019 presidential election.
“Political illiberalism, weakening party foundations and escalating sectarian polarization have significantly undermined Indonesia’s democratic quality. This trend, which began in the early 2010s, extended into the 2019 election and was accelerated by them,” Australian National University (ANU) political scientists Edward Aspinall and Marcus Mietzner argued during the ANU Indonesia Update conference in Canberra on Sept. 6 to 7.
