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Good outweighs bad in direct regional elections
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A man dips his finger in indelible ink in East Denpasar, Bali, after voting in the Bali gubernatorial election in June 2018. The government and the country’s biggest political parties have signaled their intention to abolish direct public participation in electing local leaders. (JP/Anggara Mahendra)
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early 15 years after the first direct regional elections were held in Indonesia, the government and the country’s biggest political parties have signaled their intention to abolish direct public participation in electing local leaders, citing high costs that could lead to increased corruption.
But observers and experts have said that direct regional elections, though flawed, are a vital part of Indonesia’s post-Soeharto democracy – resulting, among other things, in Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s presidency – and that steps could be taken to improve the process without scrapping it altogether.
Home Affairs Minister Tito Karnavian first floated the idea earlier this month, on the sidelines of a meeting with House of Representatives Commission II, saying the high costs of competing in regional elections could prompt elected leaders to turn to graft to recoup their outlay. He said a return to the previous system, in which governors, regents and mayors were chosen by the respective Regional Legislative Council (DPRD), could be more beneficial.
Tito’s statement was met with a steady stream of support from parties within the government coalition, with the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) in particular expressing its strong endorsement and saying that the electoral process “should be evaluated.”
Regional Autonomy Watch (KPPOD) executive director Robert Endi Jaweng agreed that regional elections should be evaluated and that such an evaluation should take place in good faith.
“[Tito] says there will be an evaluation, but why does it seem that the matter is already decided?” Robert told The Jakarta Post on Sunday. “Direct regional elections are an integral part of the decentralization process put in place since the start of the Reform Era.”
He said it was “absurd” for party elites to complain about the high cost of running in direct elections when it was the parties themselves that made it so expensive.
