We have been reminded of a disaster that may sweep our democracy as we can no longer count on the impartiality of the government of Joko “Jokowi” Widodo. To survive the tsunami and to prevent the rebirth of the authoritarian regime of Soeharto, we must prepare ourselves better.

Please be careful about the warning of President Jokowi that he would punish civil servants, acting governors, acting mayors and acting regents who are not neutral in the forthcoming elections. It will be hard to expect the bureaucracy to remain neutral as all the interim leaders are the President’s own choices.

The same goes for the Indonesian Military (TNI) and the National Police as both the police chief and the TNI chief candidate are known as the President’s men.

It is now difficult to believe the President’s statement about his government’s neutrality in the election because his eldest son Gibran Rakabuming Raka is running for vice president, obviously with the help of Constitutional Court chief justice Anwar Usman, Jokowi’s brother-in-law. Jokowi played a part, directly or indirectly, in the controversial court ruling that allowed Gibran to contest the election as the running mate of Prabowo Subianto, Jokowi’s foe-turned-ally.

On Tuesday, the Constitutional Court ethics council found Anwar guilty of a gross ethical violation and ordered the court justices to appoint a new chief justice. Regardless of the punitive measures against Anwar, the court has lost its credibility. With the lingering trust deficit, the court will adjudicate disputes over presidential election results.

From Nov. 28, 2023, until Feb. 10 next year, 24 political parties and the three pairs of presidential and vice-presidential candidates will travel across the country to campaign. Please don’t take for granted that the election will run in accordance with the Elections Law as has happened in the previous four general elections.