Tag Archives: elections

A prayer for democratic revival in Indonesia

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President Jokowi kick-off the implementation of recommendations for non-judicial settlement of 12 cases of gross human rights violations in the past, at Rumoh Geudong, one of the former Tactical and Strategic Unit Posts (Pos Sattis) in Sector A-Pidie during the implementation of the Military Operations Area ( DOM) in Aceh (1989-1998), located in Gampong Bili Aron, Glumpang Tiga District, Tuesday, 27 June 2023.

The quick count of Indonesia’s recent elections indicates the winner is previously disgraced Prabowo. Accusations abound of voting fraud, vote buying, court-rigging, and corruption within the electoral commission, and many friends are despairing of Indonesia’s retreating democracy. I share that concern, but I can see a potential different interpretation of the facts. My prayer, and an exerted effort by political parties and civil society, Indonesia can revive its democracy in regional elections next November.

Pearls and Irritations published Duncan Graham’s “Indifference Killing Democracy in Indonesia” on 11 March, 2024. He presented well-documented sins of Prabowo under President Soeharto. But after Soeharto was forced to resign, Prabowo exiled himself to Jordon. He returned twenty years ago, declaring to be a different person because it was a different era.

Prabowo

In 2008 Prabowo formed Gerindra, his own political party. And in 2009, Megawati accepted this ally of the hated Soeharto as her running mate for the 2009 Presidential elections. They lost.

In 2014 and 2019 he campaigned dirty against Jokowi. After losing a second time, Jokowi appointed him as Minister for Defence. Thus both Megawati and Jokowi had accepted a changed Prabowo.

After a year working for Jokowi, Prabowo confessed that Jokowi was a better leader. Then in 2023 Jokowi supported Prabowo for Presidency in 2024, and it seems Prabowo has won.

On Monday 4 March 2024, less than three weeks after the election, Prabowo declared that Indonesia’s democracy has “a lot of room for improvement”, which he described as “vibrant and resilient”, though he said that democracy is “really very, very tiring; democracy is very, very messy” and “we are still not satisfied with our democracy.” Face value, Prabowo was saying he is pro-democracy but not pro Indonesia’s current democracy.

Prabowo has been supported up to now by his younger brother, businessman Hashim Djojohadikusumo, who has just now been reported as being bankrupt. Will Prabowo now revert to his military style, or to Soeharto’s kleptocracy, to save his brother that helped him get to the top? Or will he act like a convert, and un-mess Indonesia’s democracy?

Jokowi

Had Jokowi been practicing democracy for so long, and now leave such a trail undoing Indonesia’s democracy? Maybe he never was pro-democracy, maybe adept as manager and marketeer where his achievements seemed democratic. But maybe he believes his actions are to democratise Indonesia’s form of democracy?

In his first term he refused to appoint politicians to his cabinet. He avoided parliament (DPR). But in 2016, DPR supported his bill for simultaneous elections of regional leaders after Presidential elections in 2024. Was he laying the foundation for profound change?

Then big news after Jokowi was re-elected in 2019 was his ministerial appointment of Prabowo, his acrimonious rival.

Jokowi has been duplicitous concerning the 2004 undemocratic National System of Development Planning Law (UU SPPN), that requires a long-term development plan every twenty years and five-year development plans drafted before elections, only edited by incoming leaders and valid without amendment for five years. Jokowi’s 2019 five-year plan was 2279 pages long. Jokowi did not make any effort to change this problematic planning system, but he paid little attention to it.

And in 2019, Jokowi produced a vision for Indonesia by 2045, to be the basis for long-term planning in 2025. But he has retained UU SPPN, and demands long-term plans to be prepared in 2024.

The only scenario I can see for maintaining the planning law that Jokowi disdains, is that it is a lever over parties for the regional elections in November for the 550 positions of Governor, Regent and Mayor, to be elected by popular vote. Maybe Jokowi is attempting to reform local democracy.

Parties, all undemocratic, are under pressure in three ways. With too many elections and too many candidates, national party committees and party patrons cannot hold the reigns. They must delegate to their provincial branches.

Campaigns will be based on carefully overseen long term plans for 2025-2045, based on Jokowi’s Indonesia Emas 2045. No more room for candidates to campaign beyond their authority, and candidates mut look to the long term.

And economic outlooks must include collaboration to embrace connectivity within markets. From 2025, Jokowi is demanding decentralise governance of the economy. Political parties within provinces need to prepare collaborative campaigns, not just campaigns between local elites.

In 2019 Jokowi surrounded Prabowo with people who could monitor his faithfulness. Yes, Jokowi seems to be creating a dynasty. Maybe also keeping a watch over Prabowo, like he did in 2019. Could that very same brother-in-law in the constitutional court who helped create the dynasty, also keep close watch over any attempt to undermine the constitution? Will Jokowi demand he appoints opponents Ganjar and Mahfud or even Ahok as ministers, as he appointed Prabowo back in 2019?

Could he be demanding Prabowo oversee better decentralisation, a focus on SDG 2030, a revision of the Planning Law, and political party law to demand parties to be democratic?

Whether Prabowo returns to his old self, or whether my hope and prayer is answered, political parties can start preparing to change local democracy by being more democratic themselves. And local civil societies can be demanding it.

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Owen Podger

Owen Podger is an Australian living in Indonesia. Since March 1998 when Soeharto was elected for the final time, he has concentrated on assisting Indonesian reforms , mainly in two areas: (1) policies to improve performance of government in Indonesia’s new democratic and decentralised system, and (2) sustainable urbanisation considering climate change and disasters.

Indonesians likely to vote for change 

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By BA Hamzah 

Feb 2, 2024

Indonesia, Australia’s largest neighbour, will go to the polls on 14 February 2024 to elect a new President. Some 160 million eligible voters are expected to turn out in the largest single-day contest.

Under Indonesian law, the candidates must secure more than fifty per cent of the votes to avoid a run-off, scheduled on 26 June.

The front runners Prabowo Subianto and Gibran Widodo are trying hard to settle the score in their favour on the ballot day.

A run-off is more likely.

Many believe a run-off will favour the former Governor of Jakarta. Anies Baswedan is popular with the younger voters who make up a big chunk of those voting. Anies has also been gaining ground lately where he performed well in the Presidential debates carried live throughout the entire archipelago.

The fallouts from the atrocities in Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, and Yemen may favour Anies. Likewise, the decision of the International Court of Justice to sanction Israel for its genocidal policies in Gaza is likely to turn the fence sitters into Anies’ voters.

Besides, Ganjar Pronowo, another contender for the Presidency, currently running low in popularity despite endorsement from matriarch Megawati Sukarnoputri, leader of the PDI-Party, may throw a spanner in the Presidential elections that can tip the balance.

Ganjar and Anies may settle for an election pact in the run-off to deny Prabowo and Gibran their political ambition.

The issues are mainly domestic. Ideology does not matter much as all candidates subscribe to Pancasila. Race, culture, corruption, and identity politics will continue to feature alongside religion, climate change and economic issues, among others.

Voters who worry about inflation, aging infrastructure, jobs, income disparity, crimes, and traffic congestions want assurances from the prospective Presidential team.

Unlike Prabowo, Gibran and President Jokowi, other voters are not concerned with reports that Jakarta is sinking. However, President Jokowi’s project of building a new capital at Nusantara, estimated to cost more than US $40 billion, is mired in controversy that may benefit Anies and Ganjar who criticised the project as a wasted legacy.

Geopolitical issues are not critical in the coming Presidential election. While security issues concerning China’s expansionist claims in the South China Sea and the impact of US-China rivalry on Indonesia’s have been raised during the Presidential debates, they are not likely to be translated into votes outside Jakarta.

The elected President is likely to strengthen relations with China, US, Japan, and the immediate neighbours like Australia and the member states of Asean. Indonesia will maintain its membership in G 20 and other multilateral institutional organisations as it pushes for membership of BRICS.

Shaping the Indonesian presidential election is a complex interplay of diverse forces that collectively determine its outcome. However, in this election, the old guards and other traditional power brokers are not likely to assert excessive influence.

The role of the media, technology, and external factors, on the other hand, cannot be overlooked as they play pivotal roles in shaping public opinions.

Besides the media and technology, one game changer that can throw the analysis into haywire is the role of the incumbent President (he leaves in October). Many expect him to help his son who is on Prabowo’s ticket to clinch the Presidential deal.

BA HAMZAH Hamzah BA writes regularly under on geopolitics, Asean and maritime security and law.  Professor, National Defence University Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur ——

Indonesians likely to vote for change

Vice-presidential debate shows no commitment to overcoming climate crisis: Greenpeace

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CNN Indonesia – January 22, 2024

Jakarta — Greenpeace Indonesia says it regrets that the vice presidential debate on Sunday January 21 did not show any commitment on the part of the three presidential tickets running in the 2024 elections to overcome the climate crisis.

According to Greenpeace, the vice presidential candidates (cawapres) failed to identify the main cause of the climate crisis, namely the conversion of land and the energy sector through the massive use of coal.

“From the debate last night, we witnessed that the extractive economy still characterises the vision of the presidential and vice presidential candidate tickets”, said Greenpeace Indonesia head Leonard Simanjuntak as quoted in a press release on Monday January 22.

Simanjuntak is of the view that vice presidential candidate Gibran Rakabuming Raka — who is President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s eldest son — echoed the government’s extractive economy policy through nickel and downstream issues, while the other two candidates, National Awakening Party (PKB) Chairperson Muhaimin Iskandar and Security Minister Mahfud MD, also did not firmly declare a commitment to exit this pattern.

Simanjuntak said that the government’s extractive economy has triggered many problems ranging from an imbalance of control and land utilisation, which that has gave birth to agrarian conflicts by expropriating the rights of indigenous, local and coastal peoples, to damaging forests and peatlands, polluting the environment and worsening the climate crisis.

On the issue of agrarian reform, said Simanjuntak, the vice presidential candidates did not discuss a resolution to agrarian conflicts due to investments being designated as National Strategic Project (PSN).

Rakabuming Raka and Mahfud for example, limited their discussion to certification plans and land redistribution without touching the root of the problem.

Simanjuntak quoted from Agrarian Reform Consortium (KPA) data which revealed that there had been 42 agrarian conflicts in 2023 due to PSN, a steep rise compared with the previous year. These conflicts covered some

516,409 hectares of land and impacted on more than 85 thousand families.

“The three cawapres also promised to protect indigenous communities and indigenous areas, including by ratifying the Draft Law on Indigenous Communities. These kinds of promises are always delivered from election to election, but political reluctance by the elected president and the political parties supporting him has so far illustrated that recognising and protecting indigenous communities is nothing more than rhetoric”, he said.

“Without revoking the Job Creation Law and stopping PSNs that appropriate indigenous communities’ land, this pledge is just empty talk”, he added.

Simanjuntak added that indigenous communities’ living space continues to be eroded by land clearing and deforestation. According to Simanjuntak, Iskandar’s statement on reforestation to overcome deforestation does not answer the problem.

Forest damage due to deforestation, including what happened at the Mount Mas food estate in Central Kalimantan, cannot be all of a sudden taken care of by replanting.

“The restoration of forests that are damaged through reforestation must indeed be done. However, the most crucial thing is actually to stop the deforestation”, said Simanjuntak.

Referring to data from the Ministry of Environment and Forestry (KLHK), between 2015 and 2022 the deforestation rate reached 3.1 million hectares. Planned deforestation also threatens the 34 million hectares of remaining natural forest in Papua (as of 2022).

Between 1992 and 2019, continued Simanjuntak, there were 72 directives on the release of forest areas in Papua issued by the KLHK. The total release of forest areas referred to cover an area of 1.5 million hectares and 1.1 million hectares including areas that are still in the form of natural forest and peatland.

In addition to this, forest and peatlands fires still occur every year.

In 2023, the figure for land and forest fires reached 1.16 million hectares. “But unfortunately this was left out in the cawapres debate discussion”, he said.

“They did indeed touch on coastal and fisher communities, but they did not spell out the agenda for mitigation and climate adaptation or how residents living in coastal areas and small islands are being increasingly squeezed by the impact of the climate crisis”, he said.

(ryn/tsa)

[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was “Greenpeace Nilai Debat Cawapres Nihil Komitmen atasi Krisis Iklim”.]

Source:

https://www.cnnindonesia.com/nasional/20240122165918-617-1052949/greenpeace-nilai-debat-cawapres-nihil-komitmen-atasi-krisis-iklim

Why Indonesia is more monarchy than democracy

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By Duncan Graham

Jan 20, 2024

Voter on an waiving Indonesia flag background. 3d illustration

General Soeharto who ruled Indonesia for 32 years last century used to stage a ‘Festival of Democracy’ every five years. This was export quality irony – the results were known before the poll papers were printed.

That’s not the case this year as the Republic now has an apparently independent Komisi Pemilihan Umum, (General Elections Commission, KPU) to police the process in what is supposed to be a democracy.

International authorities label it ‘flawed’ which is being kind. Local academics predict more dilution after the February election whoever wins.

The KPU is not the problem – it’s the parties. Three of the 24 contesting the presidency and a confusion of other national and regional positions have ‘democracy’ in their title. The other 21 idly pass the gift of the Greeks around in their pronouncements like a smoke with a few sucks left before it’s stubbed out.

(The global leader in grand misnomers is North Korea, officially the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.)

If democracy means the people have the power then none of Indonesia’s major parties nurture that essential. There are annual meetings and flash events to show that all bleatings are heard. But these displays are for the shepherd to tell the flock where it’s heading, not why.

The largest party by membership and seats is the ruling Partai Demokrasi Indonesia Perjuangan (Democratic Party of Struggle) led by Megawati Soekarno, 76, the daughter of first president Soekarno. She was the fifth president (2001 – 04) and now party president for life.

PDI-P is supposed to have half a million followers, but as with the first Elizabeth only the Monarch’s voice may be heard. One card-carrier is the current President Joko ’Jokowi’ Widodo, constitutionally barred from standing for more than two five-year terms.

A decade ago Mega reluctantly launched his career from Jakarta Governor to national politics. She couldn’t muster public support for a dynasty through her unpopular daughter Puan Maharani, chair of the House of Reps – Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat (DPR).

Despite Jokowi’s wins in 2014 and 2019, and an approval rating of around 80 per cent, Mega paid him no respect as the leader of 270 million people, the world’s third-largest democracy after India and the US.

She considered him a ‘minor functionary’. This year she handpicked the former Central Java governor Ganjar Pranowo as his successor, a man reportedly more pliant to her demands.

To revenge the slights Jokowi dropped endorsement of his party colleague and instead blessed Prabowo Subianto his bitter rival in the last two contests. Jokowi’s son Gibran Rakabuming Raka, 36, then quit the PDI-P to join Prabowo as his vice president candidate.

It’s widely thought he’s there as Jokowi’s proxy, but the former mayor of Solo (Central Java) may yet turn out to be his own man. If so the businessman who has never been subject to military discipline will need guts to disobey the fiery-tempered absolutist Prabowo.

In the last election (2019) the PDI-P scored just under 20 per cent of the vote and 128 seats in the DPR. The Jokowi and Gibran defections will cut down these scores.

In colonial days bowing and scraping was the way to win favours; in a modern Republic, stuffed envelopes are more effective.

According to Transparency International, Indonesia ranked 110 among 180 countries measured for corruption. The score starts at 1 = most pure. Here’s where the Nordic nations and NZ cluster.

Autocrats hate critics, so Jokowi’s bloodless way to neuter opponents has been to invite minor parties to abandon their principles, join his coalition and get money-making ministries. He’s done this so well his actions only get chastised by NGOs and unions.

Golkar (Functional Groups) was the plaything of the late Soeharto. It claims 840,000 members, but that appears to be a leftover from last century when all public servants had to belong.

In 1997, the last election before he was ousted, the party had 325 of the 400 seats, now only 85. A few minor parties were allowed to give the pretence of democracy but only Mega’s mob offered any opposition and so was trashed by Soeharto’s thugs in 1996.

Five people died, 149 were injured and 23 remain missing. The party was reformed as centre-left nationalistic and added ‘struggle’ to its title. For many years it was popular through its underdog status, but that’s waned.

The hard-right Gerindra (Great Indonesia Movement) is the third-largest party with 78 seats. It’s the poodle of Prabowo, Indonesia’s version of Mussolini.

The cashiered former general and alleged human rights abuser started the party after returning from self-imposed exile in Jordan in 2008 and finding no welcome mat at Golkar.

Gerindra boasts half a million members, but that doesn’t imply they’re paid-up card holders. The money comes from Prabowo’s dollar billionaire businessman brother Hashim Djojohadikusumo.

The slightly left NasDem (Democratic Party) has 59 seats in the DPR; it’s steered by Surya Paloh who owns the 24-hour news channel Metro TV. Surya was a key figure in Golkar for 40 years before starting NasDem in 2011 and reportedly has 400,000 members.

The media tzar comes from Sumatra, a huge handicap in Java-dominated politics so has appointed other candidates, this time former Jakarta Governor Dr Anies Baswedan.

He’s not doing well in the polls, probably because he used to be an academic and takes leadership seriously. Better harken to coarse Prabowo who uses the Trump primer: Rant, lie flat out like a thirsty lizard, blame unnamed foreigners for all evils, sow fear and promise to fix everything without explaining one policy detail.

That’s because there aren’t many – and those that surface soon evaporate. Indonesian politics isn’t driven by ideas gleaned in democratic party conferences where intellects clash, but by personalities created by social media,, wrinkles smoothed by AI.

The Gerindra duo are being promoted as jolly cartoon characters as though running the world’s fourth largest nation with more Muslims than any other state is a pastime for a Blinky Bill lookalike.

As Tim Minchin sings in his Opera House tribute  Play It Safe: ‘You gotta keep it simple’. Economics and foreign relations? Boor-r-r-ing. Just choose someone like the late Soeharto (Prabowo is his former son-in-law) who kept prices low and fixed dissent with gunfire. Those were the days.

In 1998 the students who helped bring in democracy reckoned they were activists, but the president said they were terrorists so good riddance. It worked last century – so why not now?

The answer is that the electorate is better educated, knows more of the world through uncensored smartphones and maybe better able to research the history they didn’t get at school. Whether their learning has reached the age of discretion will be known after 14 February.

Consider making a donation to support independent journalism

Pearls and Irritations relies totally on donations from its readers. We are independent and we don’t accept financial support from governments, their agencies or vested interests such as fossil fuel and arms manufacturing companies. We do not accept advertising, nor do we have a paywall.

Please consider a donation to help Pearls and Irritations extend its voice and reach.

Duncan Graham

Duncan Graham has been a journalist for more than 40 years in print, radio and TV. He is the author of People Next Door (UWA Press). He is now writing for the English language media in Indonesia from within Indonesia.
Duncan Graham has an MPhil degree, a Walkley Award, two Human Rights Commission awards and other prizes for his radio, TV and print journalism in Australia. He lives

Almost 400 cops secure election logistics distribution in West Papua 

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January 5, 2024 14:06 GMT+700 Manokwari, W Papua (ANTARA) – The West Papua police reported that it has deployed 385 personnel to secure the distribution of election logistics to the districts of Manokwari, Manokwari Selatan, Pegunungan Arfak, Teluk Bintuni, and Teluk Wondama.

The police officers safeguarded the distribution of ballot papers and other items of election logistics from the Manokwari Port and General Elections Commission (KPU)-Manokwari warehouse to the five districts.

Head of West Papua Police’s Operational Bureau Sen. Coms. Erick Kadir Sully stated here on Thursday (January 4) that he guaranteed safe and smooth distribution of election logistics for the voting day on Feb 14.

The mission for securing the distribution of ballot papers and other items of election logistics is made effective from January 1-15.

“The election logistics for Pegunungan Arfak is scheduled on Friday,” he revealed.

Meanwhile, Muin Salewe, a commissioner at the KPU-West Papua Office, stated that ballot papers for the districts of Kaimana and Fakfak were transported from Sorong, the capital of Southwest Papua Province.

“For five other districts, the ballot papers are delivered from Manokwari,” he said, adding that a total of 394,058 ballot papers would have been distributed to seven districts in West Papua Province.

The KPU has announced that the presidential and parliamentary elections will be held simultaneously across Indonesia on February 14, 2024.

The commission has officially set a 75-day election campaign period from November 28, 2023, to February 10, 2024, for the three pairs of presidential and vice presidential candidates.

All participating political parties and presidential contenders have pledged to conduct peaceful presidential and parliamentary elections.

As part of its efforts to make voters aware of the three candidate pairs’ political pledges, the commission has organized five rounds of debates ahead of the presidential election.

The first and second rounds were held on December 12 and December 22, 2023. The third and fourth rounds will take place on January 7 and January 21, 2024, and the fifth round will be held on February 4, 2024.

Three pairs of presidential and vice presidential candidates are contesting the presidential election: Anies Baswedan-Muhaimin Iskandar, Prabowo Subianto-Gibran Rakabuming Raka, and Ganjar Pranowo-Mahfud MD.

Baswedan and Iskandar have been nominated with the support of the NasDem Party, National Awakening Party (PKB), Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), and Ummat Party.

Meanwhile, Subianto and Raka have the backing of the Gerindra Party and a coalition of parties, including Golkar, National Mandate Party (PAN), Democratic Party, and Gelora Party.

Pranowo and Mahfud have the support of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP), United Development Party, Perindo Party, and Hanura Party.