KUALA LUMPUR – A controversial move by Indonesia’s parliament to overturn judicial rulings, perceived as unfavourable to outgoing president Joko Widodo, has sparked widespread public outrage – raising concerns about a looming democratic crisis in the nation.
Following nearly 25 years of democratic transition from a military dictatorship, a round of massive protests took place in various Indonesian cities today, with many dissenters pointing to a potential constitutional crisis.
Thousands took to the streets, voicing their anger against parliamentary decisions that could affect the upcoming local elections in November.
The protesters – including students, academics, labourers, celebrities, and pro-democracy activists – have gathered in major cities such as Jakarta, Yogyakarta, Semarang, Makassar, and Bandung.
In Semarang, the protests turned tense as police used tear gas to disperse the crowd after demonstrators damaged a local parliament building’s fence.
In contrast, rallies in Jakarta saw minimal resistance from the nearly 3,000 security personnel stationed at key locations.
In the wake of these demonstrations, a parliamentary plenary session intended to ratify changes to the election law was postponed due to a lack of quorum, as reported by legislator Habiburokhman.
However, it remains uncertain whether parliament will reconvene before the registration for regional elections begins on August 27.
What are the protests about?
Yesterday, Indonesian netizens across multiple social media platforms shared a screenshot of an emergency warning typically used for national disasters as an expression of growing alarm.
Most of the screenshots, however, were captured from a fictional “analogue horror”-genre video on YouTube – which several Indonesians on social media deemed a fitting image amid concerns.
The image, which depicts the words “Peringatan Darurat” (emergency warning) coupled with the nation’s emblem against a blue background, was uploaded by numerous local personalities including journalists – garnering millions of shares per post.
The online objections came after lawmakers, who are aligned with Widodo and president-elect Prabowo Subianto, sought to bypass two Constitutional Court decisions on electoral thresholds and age eligibility delivered on Tuesday by amending the regional head election law.
One of the court decisions in question significantly lowered the minimum percentage of seats required for nominating candidates for local heads in the November polls – potentially allowing Anies Baswedan, who lost to Probowo in February’s presidential election, to contest.
The court also ruled that gubernatorial candidates must meet the minimum age requirement of 30 at the time of registering to run for elections, in contrast to an earlier decision by the Supreme Court stipulating that the age requirement would only apply at the time of inauguration.
This ruling would make Widodo’s youngest son, 29-year-old Kaesang Pangarep, ineligible for the upcoming elections, as he will only turn 30 a month after the polls.
Despite public indignation, Widodo has since claimed that the court rulings and subsequent parliamentary deliberations are part of standard “checks and balances”.
This is not the first time Widodo has been accused of dynastic politics seeking to strengthen his lineage’s political influence.
It was reported that his older son, Gibran Rakabuming Raka, was only able to run as Prabowo’s running mate as vice president in the presidential election earlier this year due to a separate Constitutional Court ruling on age requirements.
The court, which was then led by Widodo’s brother-in-law Anwar Usman, delivered a verdict that the minimum age requirement of 40 need not apply to all election candidates, thus allowing Gibran, 36, to join the polls.
Anwar was later demoted after the court’s honorary council found that he had violated its code of ethics and had a conflict of interest. – August 22, 2024