A Jakarta court’s unexpected decision to postpone voting has put Indonesia’s presidential and general elections in jeopardy, sparking widespread condemnation of the shocking and ostensibly unconstitutional decision.
The elections, which were originally slated to take place in February 2024, will now take place no earlier than in 2025, according to a decision made earlier this month by the Central Jakarta District Court.
The judge’s decision came after a lawsuit was filed by Prima, a political party that was comparatively unknown but had complained that it had been denied the right to register to run in the elections.
Due to a glitch on the General Elections Commission website, Prima was unable to submit the necessary papers electronically, and a three-judge panel found that Prima had been unfairly disenfranchised.
However, the decision to postpone two elections in order to make room for a small political party has infuriated many Indonesians and prompted them to doubt the court’s motivations.
The majority of Indonesians want the elections to take place, according to Ian Wilson, a lecturer in politics and security studies at Murdoch University in Perth, who spoke to Al Jazeera. “Considering the backlash the recent court’s decision has caused from both the public and political elites, it is clear that the elections will take place,” Wilson said.
“From what I gather, Prima contested the choice to deny them permission to register as a party. The court’s decision to postpone the entire process, including the election, was shocking, Wilson said. It seemed like an odd reaction to the situation.
He stated that since it appeared to be outside of the court’s legal power, speculation that it might have been political in nature was warranted.
I understand that Prima disputed the decision to refuse them permission to join as a party. Wilson referred to the court’s order to postpone the entire procedure, including the election. It appeared to be a strange response to the circumstances.
He asserted that speculation that it might have been political in character was justified because it seemed to be outside the legal authority of the court.
Titi Anggraini, a constitutional law professor at Universitas Indonesia and a member of the Association for Elections and Democracy’s advisory board, said, “Ordering the postponement of the election until 2025 is an open violation of the constitution’s mandate.”
Anggraini, who called the court decision “strange, awkward, and suspicious” in addition to being unconstitutional, stated that the General Elections Commission “should have just kept going with the stages and the existing schedule” for the elections.
She told Al Jazeera, “If it implements the Central Jakarta District Court ruling, it will violate the Constitution and disrupt the Indonesian constitution’s construction where the president and vice president’s terms of office are set in stone.
Professor of State Institutions legislation at Santo Thomas Catholic University in Medan, Niswan Harefa, concurred.
“Even the president himself can be sued in a civil lawsuit. However, in this instance, it is the incorrect method to decide when to hold elections. According to Harefa, the administrative court ought to have considered the case.
Term limits
Indonesia’s constitution mandates that presidents serve for five years, after which they can only be elected for one more term, meaning that they can only serve a maximum of 10 years in office.
While the constitution was enshrined in law in 1945, following the country’s independence from the Dutch, the time limit of presidents serving only two terms was added in 1999.
That addition occurred during the Reformation Period following the resignation in 1998 of Indonesia’s dictator President Suharto after 30 years in power, and was designed to prevent subsequent presidents from emulating Suharto’s reign.
Over the years, however, there have been murmurs regarding an extension to the maximum number of times that a president can be elected, and which could allow Indonesia’s current president Joko “Jokowi” Widodo to serve a third term in office.
For his part, Widodo has spoken out against any moves to remain in office longer, saying that he supports the General Election Commission’s decision to appeal against the Jakarta court’s decision to delay the votes.
“This controversy has elicited pros and cons, but the government supports the General Elections Commission filing an appeal,” Widodo said in a video statement provided by the presidential secretariat on March 6.
Some have questioned if there may have been more to the judges’ decision than meets the eye, particularly when it appears that the original lawsuit launched by Prima made no reference to a need for the presidential and general elections to be postponed.
Alex Arifianto, a research fellow at the Indonesia Programme at the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore, told Al Jazeera that public sentiment around the decision remains high.
“The only legal route for those who wish to change the presidential term is to amend the constitution,” Arifianto said, citing a survey from 2021 which found that 78 percent of Indonesians rejected any proposal to amend it.
Another survey conducted by pollster Y-Publica from February to March this year found that more than 81.5 percent of respondents were against the presidential and general elections being delayed.
“Hence, anyone who insists on amending the constitution would run contrary to the vast majority of Indonesians who do not wish to have it amended to extend the president’s term in office,” Arifianto said.
“Not to mention that it violates a constitutional norm that has been institutionalised for more than two decades since Indonesia became a democracy.”
Source – Al Jazeera
