Indonesia drops plan to pass law preventing more competitive elections due to street protests

JAKARTA – A political crisis in Indonesia was narrowly averted with the last-minute cancellation of a controversial bill that would have barred popular rivals to candidates backed by incumbent President Joko Widodo and President-elect Prabowo Subianto from running in regional elections in October.

Thousands of people gathered in streets and protests in cities across the country including Jakarta, Bandung and Surabaya, where riot police used tear gas and water cannons to disperse crowds who burned tires and threw stones. Protests also took place in Yogyakarta, Semarang and Makassar. Police said more than 3,000 people were deployed in Jakarta alone, some in armored vehicles.

In Jakarta, outside the national parliament building, students managed to demolish the entrance gate and push through police barricades before Vice President Sufmi Dasco Ahmad announced late on August 22 that parliament had abandoned plans to pass the election bill that would have otherwise reinstated stricter rules on nominating candidates.

“We are not going any further… The registration of candidates for regional elections will be based on the decision of the Constitutional Court,” Dasco said. He added that the law on regional elections could be reviewed by the next parliament.

The rushed session of parliament on August 22 failed to ratify the bill due to a lack of quorum. Only 15% of the 575 deputies were present at the meeting, while the rules require at least two-thirds of the chamber to be present to make a decision. The protesters had demanded that parliament cancel the bill, rather than simply delay it.

Indonesia is preparing for regional elections on November 27 to elect 37 provincial governors, 415 regents and 93 mayors across the archipelago.

Political parties affiliated with the country’s two most influential leaders, Jokowi and Prabowo Subianto, have managed to form a super coalition and oust many popular rival candidates in key regions, taking advantage of the high threshold a party or coalition of parties must meet to nominate a candidate.

On August 20, the Constitutional Court lowered the threshold for political parties or party coalitions to nominate candidates in November’s regional elections – from 25% of the vote to 6.5 to 10%, depending on the number of registered voters in the region – a decision that activists hailed as a victory for democracy because it gives a better chance to political parties and candidates opposed to the dominant super coalition in key regions.

The next day, in the national parliament, political parties in the super coalition called the Onward Indonesia Coalition (KIM) rushed to propose a bill lowering the threshold to 25 percent and aimed to pass the bill on the morning of August 22, amid growing protests outside the parliament building in Jakarta and in other cities across the country.

Mr. Jokowi’s allies had sought to overturn a court ruling on the law, which, if passed, would have barred a vocal critic of the president’s government from running for the top job of Jakarta governor. The ruling would also have paved the way for Mr. Jokowi’s younger son, Kaesang Pangarep, 29, to run for deputy regional governor in November’s election, even though he will not have reached the minimum age of 30 when he registers to run, scheduled for Aug. 27-29. Mr. Kaesang would not have turned 30 until December.

The power struggle between parliament and the court has sparked anger in the world’s third-largest democracy, with Jokowi facing growing criticism over what analysts say are attempts to consolidate his power before he steps down in October.

Mr Jokowi will be replaced by Prabowo and Vice President-elect Gibran Rakabuming Raka, Jokowi’s eldest son, on October 20.

Parliament’s abandonment of its plan to overturn a Constitutional Court ruling may not be enough to quell public discontent and suspicions that lawmakers may still try to rush the bill through. Parliament has until early next week to pass the laws before registration of candidates for governor and vice-governor begins.

So far, it is the democracy activists who are winning.