Jakarta – In October last year the Constitutional Court, or Mahkamah Konstitusi in Indonesian, became a laughingstock, with netizens branding the once-respected judicial institution the Mahkamah Keluarga (family court), after it revised the age limits for presidential and vice presidential candidates to allow President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's eldest son Gibran Rakabuming Raka to contest as Prabowo Subianto's running mate.
Not only did the ruling defy the public clamor against dynastic politics, but it also devastated the integrity and credibility of the court as a product of the reform movement. The damage was done with the help of then-chief justice Anwar Usman, who is President Jokowi's brother-in-law.
Now, 10 months later, the same court has won accolades, especially from those who are concerned about the country's democratic backsliding after it against all odds ditched on Tuesday the threshold for political parties or coalitions of parties to nominate candidates for simultaneous regional head elections scheduled for Nov. 27. The court revoked the 20 percent threshold of seats on regional legislative councils and lowered the minimum popular vote requirement from 25 percent to between 6.5 and 10 percent.
As if the breakthrough ruling was not enough, the court maintained the age limit of 30 years for regional head candidates stipulated in the Regional Elections Law, which will prevent Jokowi's youngest son Kaesang Pangarep from contesting. Novice Kaesang had previously been widely tipped to run for office in Central Java or Jakarta.
The court's decision to change the threshold came just in time, as some regions, including Jakarta and East Java, faced the possibility of holding uncontested elections as the pro-government political parties formed a big-tent coalition that dashed the opposition's hopes to put up a fight.
In the case of Jakarta, the Onward Indonesia Coalition (KIM) under president-elect Prabowo Subianto has pulled in their foes from the Feb. 14 presidential race, including the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), the NasDem Party and the National Awakening Party (PKB). Had the old threshold remained in place, the de facto opposition Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) would have given the Jakarta election a miss.
Obviously, the KIM plus coalition was forged to deny popular opposition candidate Anies Baswedan from seeking reelection as Jakarta governor. The coalition declared on Monday its nomination of former West Java governor Ridwan Kamil and PKS politician Suswono as gubernatorial and deputy gubernatorial candidates.
The grand coalition set up to win regional head posts in key provinces could not be separated from President Jokowi, who admitted to intervening in the presidential election that resulted in the victory of Prabowo and Gibran. In fact, Jokowi's son-in-law Bobby Nasution and confidant Comr. Gen. Ahmad Luthfi will be running for governor in North Sumatra and Central Java, respectively.
The court has morphed from a villain into a hero in the eyes of democracy fighters in the country, who have born witness to a power play intended to help the old oligarchs maintain their grip on the national politics and economic resources after the Oct. 20 succession.
We will see whether the General Elections Commission (KPU) will comply with the court ruling, which is final and binding, or seek every avenue to render the court decision unenforceable. The poll body has been grappling with low public trust, partly because of its poor administration of the legislative and presidential elections in February but can now restore people's confidence by formulating regulations to implement the court orders.
Thanks to the reborn court, the race for regional head posts has been thrown wide open and hopes that the best candidates will win the competition may come true. But more importantly, the court has helped our constitutional democracy win over those who have so far hijacked democracy to pursue their personal interests.
Source: https://www.thejakartapost.com/opinion/2024/08/21/the-reborn-court.htm