INTERNATIONAL
The
dynamics of simultaneous elections in Indonesia
Tuesday, April 16, 2019, 16:54 GMT+7
Indonesia is the third largest democracy in the world after
India and the United States. As a democratic country, general elections are
democratic rituals and obligatory procedures that are routinely held every five
years.
The General Election scheduled for April 17 is the first time
the legislative election and presidential election will be held on the same day
in Indonesia’s history.
Approximately 193 million voters will exercise their rights to
vote on up to 805,000 voting booths. There are tens of millions of people
involved, both as organizers and supervisors from the central level to polling
stations.
This simultaneous election has been a colossal political
party since Indonesia stood. At the same time, voters flocked to the polling
stations to channel their political aspirations in the voting booth.
On the level of procedural democracy, Indonesia can be referred
to as a successful example of the implementation of democratic procedures,
especially in carrying out electoral rituals.
Most
complicated election
This event is the first time in the history of Indonesian
democracy when citizens have the right to vote the president and vice
president, as well as select members of local and national legislative and
senatorial members simultaneously on the same day.
Therefore, there are five ballots that must be punched by each
voter at the polling station. Yellow ballot papers for the House of
Representatives of the Republic of Indonesia (DPR RI), blue for the Provincial
House of Representatives (DPRD), green for the District/Municipality House of
Representatives, red for the Regional Representative Council (DPD) as an
element of regional representatives is often called a senator. The last gray
color ballot paper is for the President and Vice President.
As the election is held simultaneously, the number of voters is
quite large; it is not strange that there will be a lot of technical
difficulties from election socialization, implementation, to its monitoring.
That is why it is not wrong to say that the 2019 elections in
Indonesia are the most complicated in the world. This simultaneous
election will certainly become the attention of all citizens of Indonesia,
and will even be seen by the international community.
However, this complexity does not necessarily become a serious
threat that will disrupt the election.
This is because technically, these problems have been
anticipated by conducting socialization and simulation of voting procedures
carried out by election organizers and civil society organizations that are
concerned with issues of democracy.
Presidential
election outshines legislative election
Political discourse that has emerged on the surface or in public
discussions highlights more the contestation of the presidential election,
where there are two pairs of presidential and vice-presidential candidates:
Joko Widodo-Makruf Amin and Prabowo Subianto-Sandiaga
Uno.
The candidate pair of Joko Widodo-Makruf Amin, carrying the
tagline Indonesia Maju, is being promoted by an “elephant” coalition that
includes Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP), Golongan Karya Party
(Golkar), National Awakening Party (PKB), United Development Party (PPP),Nasdem
Party, Hanura Party, Indonesian Justice and Unity Party (PKPI), Crescent Star
Party (PBB), and two newcomers: Perindo Party and Indonesian Solidarity Party
(PSI).
In the meantime, the other candidate pair, Prabowo
Subianto-Sandiaga Uno, carrying the tagline Indonesia Adil Makmur, is being
promoted by Gerindra Party, Democratic Party, National Mandate Party (PAN),
Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), and Working Party.
Such political polarization is unavoidable so the political
dynamics of the presidential election has become heated and fierce. Moreover
this is a "repeat duel" of the 2014 presidential election so,
inevitably, the public has highlighted this contest between the pairs.
The presidential election drew people's attention so that it
became public discussion of both the elite and lower classes. However, it must
be admitted that the enthusiasm of the people towards the presidential election
was not directly proportional to the enthusiasm highlighting the implementation
of legislative elections.
Now let’s talk about the legislative election to elect
candidates for members of the Republic of Indonesia Parliament, Provincial
DPRD, Municipal DPR and candidates for the Regional Representative Council
(DPD).
Twenty political parties, including 16 national political
parties and four local political parties in Aceh Province, will contest to win
voter support. Also, there are tens of thousands of prospective legislative
members at all levels, as well as potential members of the DPD.
The legislative election seems to be drowned indeed by the
more exciting, fiercer, and more uproarious presidential contest. Themes that
should appear on the surface, such as debate about the vision and mission of
political parties and legislative candidates regarding how Indonesia should be
projected, almost disappear from the stage of public discussion.
Although procedural democracy has been noted as successful and
great, it does not mean democracy in Indonesia is perfect. There is some
homework that still needs to be refined, both procedurally and substantially.
Moreover, based on The Economist Intelligence (EIU) data,
Indonesia's 2018 democracy ranks 68th or a 20-rank free fall from the 48th
place in 2016. Data Freedom House also mentions the emergence of the threat to
civil liberties, pushing Indonesia down from the status of “free state" to
become “partially free” in 2018.
This issue is still a challenge in the future. Democracy in
Indonesia is not only successful in procedural terms but it can be a
substantial one, namely the realization of justice and prosperity. Hopefully.
Posts
0 komentar:
Post a Comment