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The dear price of extending presidential term limit
One could easily speculate that Apdesi is only playing its part in a systematic and well-designed plan to realize extension of Jokowi’s presidential tenure.
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All politics is local: President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo (center) attends the national gathering of the All-Indonesia Village Administration Association (Apdesi) at Senayan Sports Hall on March 29. (Courtesy of /Presidential Secretariat Press Bureau)
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n early December 2021, All-Indonesia Village Administration Association (APDESI) chairman Surta Wijaya said the group would declare President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo the "father of village development" and "father of village heads across the archipelago". The organization’s engagement with politics continued as on March 29, it announced a plan to openly support the extension of Jokowi’s term of office after the Idul Fitri celebration next month.
Proponents of Jokowi’s third term like Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, the coordinating maritime affairs and investment minister, Investment Minister Bahlil Lahadalia and several political party leaders should be happy with the maneuvering as it would justify their claim that the people wanted the 2024 elections to be delayed and Jokowi to stay in power after his final term ends in two and a half years.
Luhut said he had “big data” of social media users as evident of the popular support for the postponement of the elections, hence Jokowi’s presidency beyond 2024.
No doubt, the village head association’s move indicates the mobilization of the masses to support Jokowi’s third term, although a number of village heads said the Apdesi chairman was acting on his own behalf rather than the group’s.
One could easily speculate that Apdesi is only playing its part in a systematic and well-designed plan to realize the extension of Jokowi’s presidential tenure. Village development and empowerment falls under the auspices of Villages, Disadvantaged Regions and Transmigration Minister Abdul Halim Iskandar, whose elder brother, National Awakening Party (PKB) chairman Muhaimin Iskandar, was the first politician to openly support a third presidential term for Jokowi.
Halim’s deputy, Budi Arie Setiadi, chairs Projo, a volunteer group that campaigned for Jokowi’s election in 2014 and 2019. Some pro-Jokowi volunteer groups have reportedly started to seek popular support for the agenda among people at the grass roots.
A number of constitutional law experts are of the opinion that delaying the elections and extending Jokowi[‘s term are unconstitutional. Even if the People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR) pushes for a constitutional amendment to realize the so-called #jokowi3periode agenda, it runs counter to the spirit of the first constitutional amendment in 1999 on presidential term limits.
