Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) politician Budiman Sudjatmiko was quick to claim that President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo supported the idea of extending the tenure, saying that all that was left was to discuss the matter with the House, Kompas.com reported. He made the claim after meeting with Jokowi last week.

Answering questions from reporters on Tuesday, Jokowi made no mention of supporting the extension, only that the authority lay with the House. “All aspirations should be communicated 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.

The proposal came after thousands of village heads staged a protest in front of the House complex in Jakarta last week, demanding policymakers revise the 2014 Village Law that regulates their tenure. Under the law, they are elected for a six-year term with a three-period limit, meaning that they can be in office for a maximum of 18 years.

Addressing reporters during the protest, Poja village head Robi Darwis from West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) argued that there was still too much competition between prospective candidates in a six-year term. “We hope that [a nine-year term] will reduce political tension, and allow us to consult and work together for the good of the villages," Robi said.

While voicing his support for the idea, Villages, Disadvantaged Regions and Transmigration Minister Abdul Halim Iskandar proposed a nine-year term with a two-period limit, meaning the 18 years limit remained.

“The people will benefit from this because they won’t have to deal with unproductive political tension, as it affects not just the village chiefs, but also the villagers,” said the minister in a press release. He claimed that the ministry had already proposed this idea to experts last year, so the proposal had already gone through an academic review.

But constitutional law expert Feri Amsari questioned the timing of this proposal as Indonesia gears up for a political year ahead of the 2024 general election. “If in this political year there’s a push to extend the term for village chiefs, it’s possible that there is a political motive behind this proposal ahead of 2024," Feri told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.

Reports that thousands of village heads in an event in March of last year chanted their support for the extension of Jokowi’s tenure beyond 2024 also add to speculation about horse trading.

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Furthermore, Feri questioned the logic of village heads daring to make demands to powerful institutions such as major political parties. “This could be just grandstanding while there’s already an agreement between the village heads and the political parties wanting to rally voters in the villages," said Feri.

Since the village heads made their demands, several lawmakers have voiced their support for the proposal.

Deputy House speaker and National Awakening Party (PKB) chairman Muhaimin Iskandar said that he would push for the Village Law revision to be listed under the National Legislation Program (Prolegnas) priority list for 2023. “The village chief term extension is important to create stability in village development and we fully support the Village Law revision," he said in a statement last week.

House Speaker Puan Maharani of the PDI-P has also said that the House would open discussion on the issue, assuring the public that it would review the matter thoroughly with the government.

But while the proposal is framed as supporting development in villages, Trisakti University public policy expert Trubus Rahardiansyah warned that this could damage democracy in rural areas.

“They could end up like ‘little kings’, doing things as they like because of their extended term. This is detrimental to democracy and might stifle criticism from the villagers," Trubus said, as quoted from Kompas.com.