Armando Siahaan – Clear signs of an unhealthy democracy continue to crop up in regional elections, an analyst said on Thursday.

Members of family political dynasties continue to monopolize power in the regions, revealing a scarcity of qualified candidates and limited political knowledge at the regional levels, he said.

Yunarto Wijaya, a political analyst at Charta Politika, said that as the country continued to embrace political dynasties, top posts in regions were exploited by these families, even as regional autonomy allows the people to elect the leaders of their own regions.

"This creates a legitimized feudalism that monopolizes the region," Yunarto said, adding that certain politicians continued attempts to extend their tenures by appointing relatives or family friends as puppets.

"It is possible that a regional leader appoints a relative because he has served two terms, the tenure limit, and appoints someone from his family, while still playing the role of de factor leader," he said.

As witnessed in some regional elections, an obvious trend had emerged where a relative of an incumbent vies either to replace him or her or to seek another position at a different district but within the same province.

Children have been known to fight for positions their parents currently occupy. In Way Kana district of Lampung, for instance, Agung Ilmu Mangkunegara is running to replace his father, Tamanuri. In Sragen, East Java, Yuni Sukowati hopes to replace her father, Untung Wiyono, the current district head.

In a similar case, Andika Wibawa is vying for the position of deputy district head in Pesawaran, Lampung. His father, Andy Achmad Sampurna Jaya, was former district head of Central Lampung.

Other examples include those linked to Banten Governor Ratu Atut Chosiyah. Her younger sister Ratu Tatu Chasanah is running for deputy district head in Serang, while her sister-in-law, Airin Rachmi Diany, is gunning for a post in South Tangerang.

In Riau, a man and his wife have similar political aspirations. Aida Ismeth Nasution is running for the governor's seat, which is currently occupied by Ismeth Abdullah, her husband.

In any one of these cases, Yunarto said, the principles of meritocracy may be defied, but a candidate with a family dynasty backing him or her has a higher probability of winning the election than candidates without such affiliations. "The popularity of these families is usually higher than that of the other candidates," he said.

Moreover, the level of political awareness in these regions is very low, he said. Combine this with the popularity of the candidates' families, and it increases the likelihood of a bandwagon effect, where the people will vote for a candidate not because he or she is qualified, but merely on the basis of public appeal.

"The people are more likely to vote for a familiar face – in this case, a relative of an incumbent," he said.

Yunarto said that to some extent political parties were to blame. He said the phenomenon showed that parties had failed to regenerate cadres and produce competent leaders.

When political parties fail to provide a strong candidate, these families will exploit the absence of competition. "Political parties are responsible for educating the public about how to judge a good leader," he said.

[Additional reporting by Antara.]