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JAKARTA: Thousands of Indonesians flocked to key locations in Jakarta on Thursday (Aug 22) to protest a parliamentary decision that could have far-reaching impact on November’s local elections and, observers have noted, the country’s democracy.
Students, academics, labourers, pro-democracy activists and celebrities were among protestors who gathered in front of the parliament’s House of Representatives (DPR) building in Jakarta, where barbed wire and concrete fences were set up in front of the entrance.
The crowd, carrying banners, managed to tear down the fence on one side of the DPR building without resistance from the authorities. Nearly 3,000 security personnel have been deployed at the building and other locations such as the Arjuna Wijaya Statue and the Merdeka Palace.
Gerindra Members of Parliament Habiburokhman and Achmad Baidowi – both members of the House of Representatives’ Legislative Body (Baleg) – came out of the building with an escort to communicate with the protestors, but retreated after bottles were thrown at them.
Protests were also held in several other cities such as Yogyakarta, Semarang, Makassar and Bandung by students and activists. In Semarang, the crowd damaged the fence of the local parliament building and the police fired tear gas in response.
Indonesia’s parliament on Wednesday decided to overturn a Constitutional Court ruling on age eligibility and electoral thresholds for upcoming local elections.
The decision would pave the way for outgoing president Joko Widodo’s youngest son to run in the local elections, and block popular former Jakarta governor Anies Baswedan from running again against a candidate backed by incoming president Prabowo Subianto’s coalition.
The protestors are opposing parliament’s attempt to pass a bill approved by Baleg, which aims to annul the Constitutional Court’s decision on Tuesday.
The court had removed the threshold for political parties, or coalitions of parties, to be able to nominate candidates for local heads in the November elections. It ruled that the 20 per cent threshold of legislative seats in the regional council, or 25 per cent of the popular vote, would not be applicable in the local elections.
The court ruling meant that a party or a coalition of parties may nominate a candidate for regional head even if it does not have seats in the regional parliament or DPRD.
The decision opened the door for Mr Anies, who lost to Mr Prabowo in February’s presidential election, to become a Jakarta gubernatorial candidate again. He was governor of the capital from 2017 to 2022.
Mr Anies has, in recent days, been abandoned by parties that supported him months ago, after the parties joined Mr Prabowo’s Advanced Indonesia Coalition (KIM).
Now dubbed KIM Plus, the coalition of 12 parties is backing former West Java governor and Golkar Party cadre Ridwan Kamil as Jakarta gubernatorial candidate. The position of Jakarta governor is highly coveted as it is seen as a potential stepping stone to the presidency.
The Constitutional Court’s decision meant that Mr Anies stood a chance of being endorsed by the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) – the remaining party not in KIM Plus – for the gubernatorial race. Prior to the ruling, the PDI-P did not meet the 20-per-cent threshold of legislative seats to nominate a gubernatorial candidate on its own.
The constitutional court also ruled on Tuesday that gubernatorial candidates have to be at least 30 years of age at the time they register to run for elections, in contrast to an earlier decision by the Supreme Court that the age requirement would only apply at the time of inauguration.
Its ruling would close the door on Mr Kaesang Pangarep – Jokowi’s youngest child – running for governor of Central Java this November, as he will only turn 30 in December.
The court rulings were widely praised by activists and academics as a win for democracy. But the activists’ joy was short-lived.
At its meeting on Wednesday, Baleg rushed to revise the 2016 Regional Elections Law on candidates’ eligibility and electoral thresholds, with observers noting that the changes contradict the court rulings issued the day before.
Baleg’s decision took a mere seven hours, with all but one – the PDI-P – of the nine parties in the House agreeing on the bill.
Thursday’s parliament sitting to pass the bill was, however, postponed because the number of attending members did not meet the quorum.
The House of Representatives is believed to be rushing to approve Baleg’s revision because registration for the local elections at the General Elections Commission (KPU) takes place on August 27, said political observer Ujang Komarudin from Al-Azhar University Indonesia.
“That is what is questioned by the public: why (the House’s discussion is) so lightning fast, and to align its decision in accordance with the Supreme Court’s ruling,” Mr Ujang told Antara news agency.
Baleg’s decision has also sparked an outcry on social media. Since Wednesday night, an image featuring the words “Emergency Alert” above Indonesia’s national emblem, the mythical bird Garuda, has trended and been shared millions of times.
The image seeks to convey the dire situation facing the country as its government and parliament are considered to have disregarded the constitution.
Celebrities and public figures who have shared the image include Ms Wanda Hamidah, a Golkar politician. In her caption, Ms Wanda wrote that she was leaving Golkar, a party that supports the Widodo and Prabowo governments.
“I’m out of Golkar. I don’t want to be on the wrong side of history. I love my country too much. Indonesia is not for sale,” she wrote on Instagram.
Some observers have called the House’s move unconstitutional and said it would cast a shadow on the November elections.
“If (the new law) deviates from what has been mandated by the Constitutional Court, it is clear that the House has violated the Constitution, which stipulates that a Constitutional Court ruling is final and binding,” Ms Titi Anggraini of the Association for Elections and Democracy (Perludem) told news outlet The Jakarta Post.
“As a consequence, the organising of the coming regional elections will also be unconstitutional and illegitimate.”
This is not the first time Mr Widodo has been accused of dynastic politics.
His older son, Mr Gibran Rakabuming Raka, was only able to contest as Mr Prabowo’s vice-presidential running mate in February’s presidential election because of another Constitutional Court decision.
The court, which was then led by Mr Widodo’s brother-in-law Anwar Usman, ruled that the minimum age requirement of 40 need not apply to all election candidates, paving the way for Mr Gibran, 36, to join the race.
Mr Anwar was demoted after the Honorary Council of the Constitutional Court (MKMK) found he had violated the code of ethics and had conflict of interest.
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