More than 43 percent of the Indonesian population who live in rural areas will bear the brunt of this political decision, which only shows the village rulers’ hunger for power. The 2014 Village Law, which says a village head is elected only for three six-year terms, will need amending to satisfy such ambition.

It is true that theoretically, village people directly elect their leaders and therefore have the final say on whether to keep them in power or replace them. In reality, however, a combination of good track records, if any, bribery and intimidation is more effective in defining the course of a village head election.

The House’s move to revise the Village Law to accommodate the village heads’ interests will only provide fertile soil to more than 81,600 villages across the country to groom little dictators. Once they get the term extensions, they will ask for more like a wolf that smells blood.

The same political parties, not all of them actually, have fought demands to extend the term of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo beyond 2024. But unfortunately, they surrendered to the village chiefs easily.

House Speaker Puan Maharani of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), for instance, promised to study the village heads’ demand thoroughly. Similarly, Deputy Speaker Muhaimin Iskandar of the National Awakening Party (PKB) said he would push for revision of the Village Law as part of the National Legislation Program (Prolegnas) for this year. Muhaimin’s brother, Halim Iskandar, is the villages, disadvantaged regions and transmigration minister.

Halim has offered a compromise: the law will be revised to allow a village head to rule for nine years, but he or she can serve only for two terms. At the end, a village head can theoretically be in power for a maximum of 18 years, which is exactly the practice under the current law.

President Jokowi declined to comment on the demand, saying the matter falls under the House’s auspices. “All aspirations should be channeled to the House, but the law is clear: six-year terms and for three periods. [Any revision] will have to be processed by the House.”

Last year the village heads demanded in front of Jokowi an extension of the presidential term from the current two to three periods. But Jokowi dismissed their aspiration.

The village rulers insist a six-year term is not sufficient for them to develop their regions because they spend the first two or three years of their term on consolidation. But their real motive could be nothing other than power and money, simply because now villages receive direct funds from the state budget.

Since 2015, the government has disbursed money directly to the villages. As of 2021, the government has transferred Rp 400.1 trillion (US$27.2 billion) of village funds. In 2023, the village funds amount to Rp 70 trillion, up from Rp 68 trillion in 2022. Each village annually receives between Rp 800 million and Rp 1.4 billion. Isn’t that lucrative?

During the deliberation of the village bill in 2014, there was euphoria about spreading democracy down to the lowest level of bureaucracy, after voters gained the right to directly elect the president, governors, regents and mayors. Villages also have the authority to run village-owned companies to support their autonomy.

According to the Village Law, a village chief earns a monthly salary amounting to Rp 2.4 million. Like the government structure in the regional and central levels, a village has an advisory council.

Two ministries are assigned to supervise the rural areas. The Home Ministry is responsible for the administrative affairs, while the Village, Disadvantageous Regions and Transmigration Ministry is in charge of the development, supervision and empowerment of villages.

In urban areas, the lowest rung of the government structure is led by a lurah (subdistrict chief), who is a civil servant. The lurah is appointed by a mayor or regent, who can replace subdistrict chiefs at any time they wish.

Should the government and the House agree to revise the Village Law, the process should commence as soon as possible, because all political parties are now bracing for the legislative and presidential elections, which are scheduled for Feb. 14, 2024. 

The next simultaneous village head elections will be held in 2025. According to the Village Law, the election of village chiefs is organized by a committee formed by the village advisory council. The elections are held simultaneously across a regency.

In revising the Village Law, the government and the House should focus on how to bring prosperity to village people. This can materialize if the policymakers allow villagers to participate in the amendment process from the beginning through public consultation.

The House and government must not let the village chiefs abuse their powers at the expense of their people. The amendment should not provide room for dictatorships to emerge in villages, let alone to spoil the country’s hard-won democracy.

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The writer is senior editor at The Jakarta Post.