Indonesians Protest Proposed Electoral Law Changes, Threat to Democracy

According to a Reuters report, more than 1,000 protesters took part in the demonstrations in different cities.

Netizens, including Indonesian celebrities, took to social media to share a disturbing image of the country's national eagle symbol with the words Emergency Alert (Emergency Warning) The viral image was shared alongside plans by civil activists to protest the parliamentary proposal on Thursday and Friday.

The Constitutional Court on Tuesday lowered the barrier in terms of party representation for the nomination of candidates in regional elections, allowing smaller parties to run.

The change would allow Anies Baswedan, a prominent government critic, to run again in the Jakarta gubernatorial race in November, after being barred from doing so by the previous law, which required parties to have 20 percent representation in their regional assemblies to nominate a candidate. Anies has indicated he intends to run in the election.

The court also upheld the minimum age of 30 to run in regional elections. Such an amendment would prevent Widodos' son, Kaesang Pangarep, 29, from running for deputy governor of Central Java in November.

The next day, however, parliament announced reforms to the electoral law that would effectively overturn the Constitutional Court's decision to impeach Anies and allow Kaesang to run in the election. Such a plan would allow Kaesang and his allies to run unopposed in elections in Jakarta and Central Java, analysts said.

Indonesian lawmakers on Thursday postponed the passage of controversial changes to the electoral law, but must pass them by Monday for the legislation to apply to November's elections.

Thomas Lembong, a former trade minister in Widodos' government, addressed protesters outside parliament on a loudspeaker, saying: “History shows that once democracy is undermined, once state institutions lose their authority, freedoms are lost.”

Labour Party leader Said Iqbal said thousands of workers would gather in Indonesian cities to protest the proposed revisions. We only ask for one thing: that the Constitutional Court's decision be upheld, Said Iqbal told reporters outside parliament.

Widodo played down the crisis, saying in a televised speech Wednesday night that the court ruling and parliamentary deliberations were part of the government's standard checks and balances.

“We respect the authority and decisions of every state institution,” he said. “This is a constitutional process that usually takes place in our state institutions.”

Wasisto Raharjo Jati, a policy analyst at the Jakarta-based National Research and Innovation Agency, told This Week in Asia that parliament was displaying an unconstitutional attitude by circumventing the Constitutional Court's final and binding decision.

This encouraged a massive movement initiated on social media to take to the streets to protect the [constitutional courts] verdict and ensure that it is respected by parliament.

Democracy under attack

Efforts by lawmakers to introduce changes and overturn the court ruling are aimed at benefiting Widodo and Kaesang, analysts say.

Widodo, who will step down in October, has been criticised by his detractors for using state institutions to consolidate his power and establish his political dynasty.

Last October, last-minute constitutional changes allowed Widodo's eldest son, Gibran Rakabuming Raka, to join Prabowo's electoral list, sparking public outcry. Like Kaesang, Gibran was initially underage to run in the race.

Prabowo and Gibran will be sworn in on October 20.

Nicky Fahrizal, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), said the consequences of failing to comply with the court's ruling would undermine the integrity of the constitution and further degrade the country's democracy.

Failure to implement the Constitutional Court's decision will also raise serious concerns among the public about the legal and political legitimacy of the regional elections, he said.

Anies is leading opinion polls ahead of the Jakarta gubernatorial election, a post he held from 2017 to 2022.

On Monday, Anies' campaign suffered a setback when 10 of the 11 parties in the regional legislature threw their support behind former West Java governor Ridwan Kamil, who is backed by a coalition formed by Prabowo.

If Anies is ousted from the race, it would pave the way for Kamil to win the Jakarta governorship, analysts say.

Anies lost the February presidential election to Prabowo and has contested the results, claiming collusion between Prabowo and the Widodo administration. Indonesia's Constitutional Court has rejected Anies' legal challenges to the results.

Additional reporting by Reuters