Friday, March 29, 2024 | 17:07 WIB

Ulterior Motive: Postpone to hang on to power

Titi Anggraini
Titi Anggraini, Trustee of the Association for Elections and Democracy (Perludem)

The integrity of democracy 

The current reality is that the KPU has yet to issue any regulations governing the stages, programs and schedule for the 2024 General Elections. Nevertheless, the elites have conspired to approve a postponement, which would imply an automatic extension of their term of office. At this point, it is quite obvious that certain parties are plotting to suspend the elections. Referring to the existing rules and regulations codified in the Election Law and the Constitution, the current condition can no longer be quantified as an “election postponement”: delaying a scheduled election is justified when the stages of the election have been determined but are impossible to carry out, either partially or completely, as a result of unavoidable emergencies. 

This is clearly not the case today. Muhaimin Iskandar and his colleagues have taken a stance that is clearly meant to thwart a legally-entitled election. They have deliberately embarked on a course of action meant to sabotage the election from taking place every five years, in conformity with the terms of the Constitution. 

Such a disruption of a scheduled election is undoubtedly intended to extend the Presidential term of office beyond limits imposed by the Constitution, without having to endure a prescribed struggle for legitimacy through regular national elections. To put it bluntly, it is an attempt at evasion of term limits. 

This is nothing new. Throughout history there are examples of schemes to corrupt the democratic process through delays or postponements, particularly for authoritarian leaders to continue to enjoy their power and sidestep legal presidential-term-limits (Mila Versteeg et al., 2020). In fact, since 2000 there are four election delays recorded as a term-limit-evasion strategies, all in Africa: Angola from 2002 to 2012, Ivory Coast in 2010, the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2016 and Sudan, from 2005 to 2010. 

It is thus only logical that in reaction to such a tactic, many parties have become aroused and severely criticize those championing the postponement of an election in our fledgling democracy, as they see it plainly as a naked attempt to extend the current regime’s term of office. 

Such a proposal simply cannot be countenanced as “freedom of expression” in a democracy. It is such a bold and destructive move that it would damage the integrity and undermine the credibility of Indonesian democracy, sworn to hold regular, periodic elections every five years. We note that an election is a means of exercising the people’s sovereignty in limiting presidential reach, in order to avoid the temptation of creeping absolute and arbitrary power. 

The clever proposal of the elite clearly contravenes the Constitution, which strictly limits the terms of office of a President and Vice President. The ploy to delay the 2024 General Elections, if successful, would also distance us from reforming governance, as the people strongly oppose any concentration of power based on individual preferences. 

We must therefore reject and fight against this insidious proposal, at all costs. Regeneration in politics is a fundamental necessity. Stability of a state stability is never determined by certain powerful figures. Indeed, Indonesia is a huge country with a wealth of potential, with millions of men and women ready to serve their nation. 

The proposal to postpone the general election with a bonus of an extended term of office not only humiliates the President but also jams him into a fundamental violation of democratic constitutionalism. It is crystal clear that President Joko Widodo must resolutely and forcefully decline such a proposition. (tit)

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