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View all search resultsDirect attack on democracy
It is not too far a stretch of our collective imagination to deduce that antidemocratic forces have continued to whittle away at the hard-won gains of the Indonesian people, when nearly three decades since the precipitous events that led to massive sociopolitical reform, those who have benefited from direct elections are now seeking retrogression.
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A woman walks past a bulletin board at a polling station in Surabaya on Feb. 24, ahead of a revote in the 2024 general election due to logistical problems that affected some 10 polling stations across the East Java capital. (AFP/Juni Kriswanto)
T
hese days, democracy doesn’t die in one fell swoop. Democracies no longer collapse due to a sudden revolution or military coup; rather, they are dismantled piecemeal as antidemocratic forces gradually chip away at institutions, norms and rule of law. Democracy dies by a thousand cuts, and unless we make an effort to arrest its decline now, it may be too late for us to stop its demise.
Over the past decade there have been many attempts that aim to undo the democratic gains Indonesia has made since the late 1990s, from the weakening of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) to allowing the military to reenter politics and business.
Now we have all reason to believe that these antidemocratic forces are setting their sights on direct elections.
Following the 1998 downfall of Soeharto, whose authoritarian New Order regime centralized power in his hands, prodemocratic forces set up an electoral system to allow for the regular turnover of politicians in executive and legislative offices.
The new arrangement went to the extreme to repudiate Soeharto’s elite-dominated political and electoral process by setting up a system that allowed the masses to vote directly for lawmakers at all levels of the legislature and the head of state. For the first time in Indonesia's modern history, the people would have a hand in deciding not only who sits in local and national legislatures but also who leads the country.
And despite what critics have said about the flaws in the post-reform electoral system, from money politics to the political dominance of party elites, direct elections have worked their magic for Indonesia.
From the standpoint of basic human dignity, having an individual say in who sits in the country’s highest political office has certainly been a source of pride for many voters.
