By Wimar Witoelar
More than 112 million Indonesians headed to the polls on June 27th to elect 17 governors, 39 mayors and 115 regents. The first count of the result is encouraging and interesting. First, there have been no reports of physical conflict of a serious nature. Next, three provinces on the island of Java, which provide 48 percent of the national votes, were won by governors who are known to be moderate and professional. So fears are allayed that the 2017 Jakarta gubernatorial elections, which was understood to be largely won by the use of identity politics and religious division during the campaigns, are an indication of things to come. The negative force of the Jakarta elections, however, has not snowballed into a national trend.
Another notable factor is the escalation of political activities related to the 2019 parliamentary and presidential elections. Politicians are now taking a new look at projections of their potential parliamentary strength, seriously focusing on presidential tickets to be nominated by political parties and what subsequent coalitions would likely emerge. Indonesian electoral law allows only political parties which have won a minimum percentage of parliamentary seats in the previous elections to nominate presidential candidates. Otherwise, they collaborate with other parties to reach the required minimum quota. This usually leads to coalition building. However, voters tend to elect individuals rather than go with candidates chosen by political parties. Candidates are traded across party lines except those whose party identification is explicit and strong, such as the incumbent, Joko Widodo and Prabowo Subianto, his challenger during the last election. Not surprisingly, parties become tradeable, like professional football teams.
Among the general public the most popular political gossip is discussion on possible presidential and vice presidential candidates. Nothing has been formalized but polls favor the incumbent President Joko Widodo, whose running mate is still unknown. Next comes perennial candidate Prabowo, whose vice presidential nominee is also the subject of speculation.
The rumor mill is rife with other political figures who feel they should also enter the race. A number of names appear in the social media, one of them being Amien Rais, a well-known political figure during the 1998 reform movement. He is one among a field of aspirants testing the waters. A senior citizen with blunt opinions, he stands out because of his harsh negativism. While he is outspoken about his own candidacy, there has been no commitment of support from any of the party coalitions.
The broad observation one can make is that Indonesia’s post-1998 democracy is vibrant and loose without ideological definition. It seems quite effective in bringing the votes out, which meets the necessary but not sufficient condition of a democracy.
wimarw@gmail.com
