August Surprise
Commentary by Wayne Forrest
The last week of August in the US is slow and sleepy; most people are on vacation. Its very possible some Outlook/ Indonesia readers missed the fireworks in Indonesia. On August 22 the country erupted in major protests after the nation’s Parliament attempted to pass legislation to overturn an August 20 decision at the Constitutional Court that had provided a fresh lift to independent political voices separate from the oligarchies that dominate Indonesia’s political parties. Earlier, the country’s Supreme Court had paved the way for President Jokowi’s second son Kaesang, to run as a governor or deputy governor in November regional elections. He is only 29 and the election law stipulates 30 as the minimum age to run. The Supreme Court –similar to the Constitutional Court’s 2023 decision that enabled #1 son Gibran to run for VP—crafted a “loose” interpretation of the Election Law. The 2023 decision sparked widespread derision even among some Jokowi supporters. It led to an ethics investig
ation and the resignation of the President’s brother-in-law from the Court. Another justice, who also supported the controversial VP decision left due to allegations of sexual impropriety.
On August 20 without these justices the Constitutional Court gave a very different verdict from the one it handed down in 2023 and went a step further. Not only did it reverse the Supreme Court’s ruling, reaffirm the age requirement blocking Kaesang’s candidacy, it also lowered the percentage threshold for candidate slates from 20% to 6% of seats in Parliament. A day later, members of the Gerindra-led coalition supported by Jokowi began deliberations in Parliament to create a legislative “fix” to overturn the Constitutional Court by revising the 2016 Regional Elections Law. After the protests gathered strength and key members of the business community urged the legislators to end “the tug-of-war over short-term political interests”–as one of them noted–Jokowi and Prabowo met and made the best practical decision: walk away from the effort.
Indonesians, generous in their favor towards Jokowi, have apparently had enough of the accumulation of political chips and the spreading of favors to snare plumb positions for his sons and relatives after he steps down. If one thought Jokowi invincibly controlled all branches of government, this development indicates a major setback.
It may well be that this is just a bump on the road to a coalescing of forces and parties akin to the New Order in pursuit of development. If so, it would be a shame, as many Indonesians who fought for 1998 democratic reforms believed that Jokowi was going to allow the country to finally turn the corner and away from the undemocratic allergies of the Suharto years.
For me one of the the bright spots is that these protests were not about economics, they were about law and governance. Only time will tell how they may resonate in the next administration.
(These views are the author’s and may not reflect those of AICC or its members.)