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New regional election law strangles independent candidacy
Jakarta Post - June 8, 2016
Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama was accused of waging an antipolitical party campaign, a "dangerous" move they feared could exacerbate public distrust in political parties as the main cradle of national leadership.
The ruling party's threat resounded when the House of Representatives endorsed the amendment to Law No. 1/2015 on regional elections last week. Of course the provisions were not specifically aimed at Ahok, but all aspirants toying with the idea of running independently.
Because the amendment came just as Ahok supporters, grouped under the moniker Teman Ahok (Friends of Ahok), had obtained almost a million copies of ID cards belonging to people wanting Ahok to run as an independent, there is good reason to suspect that lawmakers had designed the change on to concerns that popular leaders would increasingly follow in his footsteps.
The amendment requires that Polling Committee (PPS) personnel verify the names of eligible voters who have submitted their names to the local General Elections Commission (KPUD).
The verification method is bizarre: PPS personnel visit the signatories' residences, exactly the way state officials may during a regular census. If a supporter is not available at home, the aspirant and his/her running mate have three days to present them physically to the PPS office. Failure to do this results in the annulment of the signatories' support for the independent aspirant.
Imagine how this tedious method will play out in major cities like Greater Jakarta where people's mobility is extremely high during the day! If Friends of Ahok manage to pool the support of a million voters by the end of July, how many PPS personnel will be required to undertake this duty? The scene will be equally ridiculous if PPS personnel are forced to handle the thousands and thousands of signatories Ahok may need to bring to them if PPS personnel fail to find many of the highly mobile Jakartans at home during their visits.
Lawmakers and government representatives responsible for deliberating the bill insist that the new prerequisites are intended to guarantee that the support for an independent hopeful is genuine. This argument makes sense, but surely the verification method can't be real.
Obviously, the new conditions set by the amended law are intended to rob the people of their basic right to choose their leaders without the intervention of political parties. The prerequisites mean to maintain party domination in the election process – a bigotry that proponents of democracy must reject.
Aside from questionable verification procedures, independent aspirants are already burdened with a tough task – to garner the support of between 6.5 and 10 percent of the total eligible constituency.
Losing public trust after more politicians were prosecuted and convicted of corruption, political parties – nationalist or religious – have seen a worrying trend. In last year's simultaneous regional elections, 139 of the 829 contesting pairs ran independently, and 11 of those pairs won.
Independent candidacy is no longer a folly, as people are increasingly fed up with systemic political corruption. Fielding an independent candidate is akin to voicing demand for leaders who dare to make a radical change to governance long plagued with corruption, nepotism and cronyism.
It is not a secret that a nominee has to spend billions of rupiah for a party's support and more independent candidates mean less cash going into party coffers. Ahok once estimated that he would need Rp 200 billion (US$15 million) if he should seek a political party's nomination.
As for Ahok, thanks to his unrivaled electability, the amended law is unlikely to cause too great a problem when it comes to his re-election bid. If the law should foil his ambition and the temptation of power remains too sweet to resist, he can leave his adoring fans and jump onto the bandwagon of political parties.
Both the NasDem Party and Hanura Party have openly expressed their "unconditional" support, even if he should enter the race independently. Senior Golkar politicians have also hinted at their support. The PDI-P, unsuccessful in its attempt to persuade its most popular politician, Surabaya Mayor Tri Rismaharini, is courting Ahok again.
Despite Friends of Ahok having vowed to fight to the end for his independent ticket, it appears as if Ahok may increasingly sway toward political parties. On various occasions, he has been seen to exchange pleasantries with politicians, especially those from the PDI-P.
The proposed verification of an independent candidate's supporters is but one of the flaws that make the new law vulnerable to judicial review motions – something that may disrupt next year's simultaneous elections in 76 regencies, seven provinces and 18 cities.
Gone is the hope to have a regional elections law that can help develop democracy by simplifying procedures for both independent and party candidacies and to minimize vote buying and corruption within the political system.
The amended law maintains the old rule that requires that only political parties with at least 20 legislative seats are eligible to field their own candidate. Those who have less than 20 seats have to coalesce for a nominee.
Ideally, the conditions should be made simple so as to allow for fair competition. In reality, only in a few regions does a political party have 20 seats in the legislature or command 25 percent of valid votes.
The law allows alliances of "party workers" and interest groups to run the country, and will continue to do so for the next five years at the very least. Leadership teams driven by a broad movement of grassroots supporters will simply become an endangered species.
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