New Delhi: Indonesian legislators have temporarily scrapped plans to amend the country’s elections laws after thousands hit the streets this week to protest a bill that would have tightened outgoing President Joko Widodo’s hold on the government.
Citizens gathered in large numbers outside the Indonesian parliament Thursday – and some even tried to breach the building – to oppose the amendment overturning a court ruling, making it difficult for Joko’s youngest son to contest the upcoming regional polls.
The world’s third-largest democracy has seen a week of tussle between the legislature and the judiciary, prompting parliament to hold an emergency session Thursday to reverse the constitutional court order.
The amendment had raised suspicion and triggered widespread condemnation and discontent, as protestors feared the consolidation of power by one family. Dissenters “opposed the dynastic politics carried out by the president,” said Yoes Kenawas, a political analyst at Atma Jaya Catholic University.
Posters with “Emergency Warning” and that of the national bird, a hawk-eagle native to Java, were widely shared online. At the same time, protests were held across the country, in towns Bandung, Yogyakarta, Surabaya, and Makassar, and most notably in Jakarta where a contingent of 3,000 security personnel was deployed.
Students, activists, teachers, workers, and musicians joined the protests while tear gas and water cannons were used to disperse crowds. “This is a republic. It’s a democracy, but if its leadership is decided by one person or an oligarch, we can’t accept that,” a 29-year-old protestor told Al Jazeera.
A group of protesters even tried to storm the parliament building forcing an adjournment. Deputy Speaker Sufmi Dasco Ahmad confirmed that the discussion over the amendments would be postponed and will be taken up with the new incoming parliament later this year – indicating it will not apply to the regional elections in November. “We are not going ahead,” Dasco said, adding, “The candidate registration for regional elections will be based on the constitutional court’s ruling.”
Court widened nominee pool, allowed Widodo critic
The parliament has a majority supporting Joko Widodo and Prabowo Subianto, the president-elect and Joko’s successor. Joko is presently at the end of his second term and cannot run for a third per the constitutional norm.
The new electoral amendment would have allowed those below 30 years to run for governor, paving the way for Joko’s youngest son Kaesang Pangarep, 29, to contest the deputy governor’s post in the regional elections.
Kaesang Pangarep will turn 30 in December, just a few weeks after the elections begin.
The president’s older son Gibran Rakabuming Raka, who awaits swearing-in to be vice president of the country, was also brought to office after an exception was made about his age by a constitutional court under Chief Justice Anwar Usman, a relative of Joko’s.
The constitutional court, however, dismissed the plea Tuesday to reduce the age for governor while also abolishing a rule that made it difficult for candidates from smaller parties to contest elections.
Under the court’s ruling, hailed as a win for democracy, “parties and coalitions need just 7.5 percent of the popular vote for provinces with 6 million to 12 million eligible voters and only 6 percent of the popular vote for provinces with more than 12 million eligible voters”. The ruling would allow a larger pool of candidates to participate in the regional elections.
The court order, reports suggest, will also allow a critic of the Joko Widodo government to run for Jakarta governor.
(Edited by Tikli Basu)
Also read: Indonesia shelves plan to revise election law as protests rage