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Jakarta Post

Betrayal of ‘Reformasi’

Sadly, we note that the spirit of Reformasi is waning not only in our political body, but also in the judiciary.

Editorial Board (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Sat, December 28, 2024

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Betrayal of ‘Reformasi’ Hard-won democracy: President Prabowo Subianto shows ballot papers while voting in the simultaneous regional election in Bogor, West Java, on Nov. 27. (AFP/Aditya Irawan)
Versi Bahasa Indonesia

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f we allow President Prabowo Subianto to get his way in reforming the regional electoral law, we will be betraying the spirit of the political reforms which turned Indonesia into a democratic nation. We paid with blood, sweat and tears in pushing for Reformasi (Reformation) to end more than three decades of Soeharto’s dictatorship in 1998, and to usher in democracy.

Prabowo’s proposal to revert to an indirect election mechanism for the head of regional administrations would not only deprive people of their sovereignty, but runs counter to the decentralization efforts which are part and parcel of Reformasi to give regions more autonomy.

In the wake of Soeharto’s downfall, there was national consensus that we must never let ourselves fall back into authoritarianism again. We now find it very disturbing that most political parties in Prabowo’s coalition government, which controls the House of Representatives, openly support his proposal to change the electoral laws.

Prabowo’s proposal calls for the heads of regional governments, including provincial governors, chiefs of regencies and city mayors, to be elected by regional representative councils (DPRDs), rather than directly by the people as has been the practice for the last 20 years.

When the House begins deliberating the electoral bill, we hope that enough parties, along with a push from civil society as happened during the early years of Reformasi, will go all out in defending hard-won gains in democracy and regional autonomy.

The regional elections law is vulnerable because the Constitution says the heads of regional governments should be elected through a democratic process. A Constitutional Court ruling in 2013 interpreted this to mean that direct elections are the embodiment of the people’s sovereignty.

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Sadly, we note that the spirit of Reformasi is waning, not only in our political body, but also in the judiciary. Some in the political elite are taking advantage of the notoriously short memory with which our nation has been cursed.

We couldn’t agree more with Prabowo about the need to cut the huge costs of holding elections. It has felt particularly burdensome financially this year because, for the first time, we held several elections in the same year. In February, we held the elections for president/vice president, members of the House and Senate and members of the regional councils (DPRDs). In November, we held elections for the heads of regional governments.

A democracy of Indonesia’s scale, with a population of 280 million people, is bound to be expensive, but if we want cost efficiency, Mr. President, you are looking in the wrong place by cutting back on one of these elections. You should never sacrifice the people’s sovereignty.

Democracy is expensive in Indonesia, not so much because of the scale or the number of elections, but more so because of the widespread practices of “money politics”; from vote-buying and the “dawn raids” on voters on the morning of the election, to candidates competing to outspend one another and the absence of effective control and auditing of campaign finances. If you deal with these problems, Mr. President, the nation can generate significant savings.

What is most disturbing about the proposal to reform the electoral law is that we are seeing a consistent trend towards authoritarianism.

Several political parties, including Prabowo’s own Gerindra Party, have openly called for the nation to return to indirect elections for president and vice president, as was practiced under Soeharto. The Constitution, which has since been amended, states that the president/vice president should be elected by the people. This may seem a harder nut to crack than changing the regional election law, but it’s not impossible. Given its dominance in the legislature, the government could easily push for a constitutional amendment.

Once it succeeds in amending the regional electoral law, there is no stopping the government from going for the bigger change. Before long, we could be condemned once again to authoritarianism. There is no bigger betrayal of our sovereignty than witnessing these changes through the “democratic process” that we put together during Reformasi.

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