Novali Panji Nugroho, Jakarta – Former presidential candidate Anies Baswedan has highlighted concerns over the rise of political dynasties in Indonesia, noting that the country's democratic system often enables the concentration of power within certain families.
According to him, such practices have become increasingly evident in recent years.
"There's a tendency in Indonesia for dynasties to emerge, for family powers to rise. This tendency exists," Anies said during an interview in South Jakarta on Friday, February 27, 2026.
However, Anies emphasized that democracy should guarantee equal opportunities for all citizens. He suggested that legal safeguards, particularly rulings from the Constitutional Court, play a crucial role in ensuring fairness.
The former Jakarta Governor referred to a 2015 Constitutional Court decision that addressed restrictions on potential regional leaders who have blood or marital relations with incumbent regional heads. In that ruling, the court decided to remove restrictions on political dynasties.
"Since then, we have witnessed the emergence of numerous political dynasties," he said.
Anies stressed the need to reassess and strengthen regulations governing political dynasties. "So that in Indonesia, regional and central governments work for the people. Not just for specific family groups," said Anies, who is also an Honorary Member of the People's Movement.
Constitutional Court petition seeks to bar president's family from running for office
Separately, two lawyers, Raden Nuh and Dian Amalia, have filed a judicial review of Indonesia's Election Law with the Constitutional Court, seeking to prohibit blood relatives or in-laws of the sitting president and vice president from running in presidential elections. The proposed ban would apply to candidacy for both president and vice president.
The case, registered as 81/PUU-XXXIV/2026 on Tuesday, February 24, 2026, challenges several provisions of Article 169 of Law Number 7 of 2017 on General Elections.
This article sets the requirements for presidential and vice-presidential candidates, including Indonesian citizenship, loyalty to the country, and a clean criminal record.
The plaintiffs argue that current law allows incumbent presidents to nominate their children, siblings, or close relatives as candidates, effectively using the law to maintain family power.
"If this happens, it is tantamount to negating the principle of legal objectivity, where a situation will certainly be created in which the law is used as an instrument to perpetuate family power," said the plaintiffs in their petition.
They also argue that Article 169 violates Article 28D Paragraph 3 of the 1945 Constitution, which guarantees equality before the law. According to the plaintiffs, family members of an incumbent president or vice president have unfair access to state resources, creating systemic inequality in the presidential race.
The petition further claims that the absence of a specific prohibition on the president's family running for office breaches the principle of a legal state, which requires limits on power and mechanisms to prevent conflicts of interest.
"In public law, conflicts of interest do not need to occur factually to be considered dangerous. Simply having the potential or appearance of a conflict of interest can tarnish legal legitimacy," the petitioners said.
The applicants have requested the Constitutional Court to declare that Article 169 of the Election Law is unconstitutional and invalid, unless interpreted to require that presidential and vice-presidential candidates must be free from conflicts of interest stemming from blood or marital ties to the sitting president or vice president.
– Dede Leni contributed to the writing of this article.