Just a day before the Election Organization Ethics Council (DKPP) ruled on his case, Hasyim announced that the KPU would comply with a recent controversial ruling by the Supreme Court to change yet another age requirement for a major election, this time clearing a path for President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s youngest son to run for governor in the Nov. 27 regional elections.

Indonesian Solidarity Party (PSI) chairman Kaesang Pangarep, 29, will be eligible for the race once the KPU changes an internal rule to relax the minimum age requirements for potential candidates.

He would be the second member of the Jokowi clan to benefit from such a rule change after his older brother, vice president-elect Gibran Rakabuming Raka, secured his candidacy through a Constitutional Court ruling in October 2023 that the KPU also did little to prevent.

Seen in this light, Hasyim’s removal can be construed as a convenient exit from the “heavy task of [...] organizing elections”, as the man himself put it, having played the sinister role of executor of two rule-bending attempts to firmly establish Jokowi’s political dynasty.

His perceived lack of remorse as he thanked the DKPP for giving him the boot certainly did not help to dispel the accusations. For now, Hasyim has been spared politically; it is up to elections watchdogs to demand accountability.

Kaesang’s own stock shot up this week after a pollster declared he was top-of-mind among respondents asked to name a figure who would stand a good chance of winning the Central Java gubernatorial election. Political endorsements ensued.

Now the Jokowi scion, who claimed to be uninterested in politics just a year ago, is at the doorstep of power.

In private, Jokowi’s circle already considers Kaesang’s election a done deal – a month before he even registers to run. Confronted by this hubris, we must call for an end to entrenched dynastic politics.

If it wasn’t clear enough before, let it be plainly spoken: Stop misusing democratic institutions for personal gain.

Any candidate for high office, regardless of their parentage, must earn their position through legitimate hard work. Dismantling long-standing electoral rules to install the nepo baby du jour is a grave insult to the Indonesian public.

Many other clans, of course, have benefited from the political power of their forebears.

President-elect Prabowo Subianto, for instance, was at one time the son-in-law of New Order dictator Soeharto. And if the Indonesian people demand a first lady, Siti Hediati Herijadi, or Titiek Soeharto, may come forward, again symbolizing that connection.

In addition, the Yudhoyonos, Sukarnos and countless other Indonesian political dynasties have relied on their proximity to power to secure resources for their respective households, just as how family conglomerates operate.

Many lawmakers, businesspeople, government officials and up-and-coming regional leaders are themselves the product of dynastic politics combined with varying degrees of personal merit. This may be a fact of our political world, but any attempt to manipulate the nation’s Constitution, laws and democratic institutions goes beyond the pale.

Such practices erode public confidence in the democratic process and create opportunities for political instability, which in turn eats away at the foundations of our democracy. We cannot afford to lose the system we fought for with blood and tears back in 1998.