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Restrengthening the legislature through elections in 2024
The House’s functioning oversight will give the executive no room to practice dictatorship within the constitutional democracy.
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Festive election: Dressed in traditional Javanese attire, poll workers serve voters in Giwangan subdistrict in Yogyakarta in the April 2019 legislative election. (JP/Tarko Sudiarno)
On Sept. 26, 2022, the Jakarta-based Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) released the results of a survey, taken in August 2022, focusing on Indonesia's shifting perspectives on politics. The respondents were aged 17-39.
The results showed a lack of trust from the younger population in the legislative branch. The House of Representatives scored last. Only 56.5 percent of respondents trusted it, while the President's office won 86.4 percent. Therefore, there is an urgent need to position legislative elections as democratic events that deserve special attention from the public. The public needs to examine legislative elections to ensure quality legislators and laws.
There are three reasons why we need to pay special attention to legislative elections, especially the upcoming one in 2024. First, with the fourth amendment to the 1945 Constitution, a legal policy was formed that is more inclined toward strengthening executive power, especially the presidential system.
History shows a rejection of a solid legislature after the 1959 presidential decree until the reign of Soeharto’s New Order. During the period, executive power on a presidential basis deepened, focusing on strong, charismatic and popular figures.
As a result of the strengthening of the executive, the Indonesian constitutional system has embedded a caesarean tradition akin to the one from the Napoleon Bonaparte era. In Napoleon's conception, this tradition was reflected in the consulate and empire he founded, which was rooted in the Roman temporary dictatorship system that emphasized the strength of the executive power supported by the widespread support of the people (Boyron, 2013).
Second, based on political constitutional law, which leans toward the caesarean tradition, the public narrative emphasizes presidential and vice-presidential candidacies ahead of elections, thus neglecting the urgency of legislative elections. This provides impetus for us to encourage strengthening the legislature through in-depth attention to legislative elections.
Strengthening legislative capacity can be reflected in the quality of lawmakers, which can materialize through strengthening political parties. This demands politicians who possess a combination of wisdom, integrity, modesty and intelligence.
