Nivell Rayda, Jakarta – A suggestion by President Prabowo Subianto that regional Indonesian leaders be appointed and not elected by the people has sparked debate among political parties, with analysts saying it would be a setback for democracy that would not address corruption risk.
Political parties are split over whether the country should continue allowing voters to directly elect their governors, mayors and regents, or shift to a system where regional leaders are appointed by local parliaments.
The debate follows Prabowo proposing on Dec 5 that direct regional polls be scrapped and replaced with appointments by local legislatures (DPRD).
Prabowo argued that regional elections are costly and prone to problems such as vote buying.
"I invite the political forces to be brave in offering solutions to the people. Democratic, but without wasting money," Prabowo said at the 61st anniversary celebration of Golkar Party in Jakarta.
"If the public has already elected the district and provincial DPRDs, then why not just let them directly choose the governor and regent as well and be done with it."
Indonesia staged two elections last year: In February to elect the president and members of the national parliament, national senate, provincial DPRD and district level DPRD; and again in November to elect 37 governors, 415 regents and 93 mayors.
Prabowo wants to get rid of the second one.
But experts warn the move could set Indonesia back to the days of former president Suharto, who ruled with an iron fist for more than three decades until 1998.
During Suharto's New Order regime marked by the military's far-reaching control over civilian life, Indonesians could vote only for one of three state-sanctioned parties – Golkar, the United Development Party (PPP) and the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI).
They had no say in choosing their provincial and municipal leaders, who were effectively appointed by the central government.
Guntur Romli, spokesman for the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) – an offshoot of the now-defunct PDI – said the party is still reviewing the president's proposal but is inclined to support keeping direct elections of regional leaders.
"Having local parliaments appoint regional leaders will raise questions about legitimacy because people will not feel that they are the ones who chose their regional leaders," Guntur told CNA.
PDI-P is currently the largest party in the national parliament, holding 110 of 580 seats. It is one of only two parties outside Prabowo's ruling coalition.
Golkar, the second-largest party in parliament with 102 seats and a member of Prabowo's coalition, is pushing to scrap the direct election of regional leaders.
Golkar deputy chairman Ahmad Doli Kurnia told CNA that the party has spent the past one-and-a-half years examining "various options to perfect the Indonesian political system".
"Among these options is to have local parliaments appoint regional leaders. However, we are also considering hybrid options that combine elements of the New Order's indirect elections with today's direct system," he said.
Mardani Ali Sera, a lawmaker from the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), said his party is seeking a middle ground by having some regional positions be filled through direct elections and others be appointed by local parliaments.
"Direct elections can bring out local 'gems' even if they come from small parties or non-governmental organisations. Direct elections are good for urban areas, while in rural areas, selection by DPRD could be considered," he said, as quoted by CNN Indonesia on Dec. 8.
Mardani argued that the cost of staging a mayoral election in a city of just a few square kilometres is more affordable than sparsely populated regencies with hard to reach villages.
PKS controls 53 parliamentary seats and is part of the president's Advance Indonesia coalition.
Prabowo argued that direct election of regional leaders – in place since 2005 – is "a major source for corruption" and benefits candidates with large campaign funds.
Regional votes also come with a hefty price tag.
The November 2024 regional elections – the first time they were held simultaneously nationwide – cost Indonesian taxpayers 41 trillion rupiah (US$2.45 billion), even after the attempt to synchronise all 545 provincial, regency and city level elections across the country on a single day.
That money, the president believes, could be better spent elsewhere. Prabowo has been imposing a number of cost-saving measures to finance several of his ambitious programmes which could see Indonesia spending more money than it can generate.
As of November, the country's 2025 deficit had already reached 560 trillion rupiah or 2.35 per cent of Indonesia's gross domestic product (GDP).
On Monday, Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa said he could not guarantee the 2025 budget deficit would not exceed the 2.78 per cent of GDP rate stipulated in the budget blueprint.
Indonesia's lawmakers are set to begin discussions next year on revisions to election rules, following a Constitutional Court ruling in June 2025 for the national and regional parliamentary elections to be held separately from 2029.
A House committee that will draft the election bill is expected to be formed in January next year, Arse Sadikin Zulfikar, deputy chairman of House Commission II overseeing home affairs, told The Jakarta Post. Arse is also a Golkar politician.
Scrapping direct election 'not the solution: Experts
Experts said the benefits of a direct election of regional leaders outweigh its cost, and scrapping it would not reduce the risk of corruption.
"Democracy should not be compromised for financial reasons," said Hendri Satrio, a political expert from Jakarta's Paramadina University.
Indonesia began overhauling the way its elections were run after Suharto was toppled. The country staged its first direct presidential election in 2004 and the following year, its first direct regional election in East Kalimantan's Kutai Kertanegara regency.
"The proposal to return to the system of (appointing local leaders) through regional legislatures is a setback for Indonesia's democratic ecosystem," said Haykal, a researcher at the Association of Elections and Democracy (Perludem).
The researcher, who goes by one name, also dismissed the argument that directly electing local leaders breeds corruption.
"High costs come from 'dark' political financing, not from the implementation of direct elections," he said.
Parties should instead be held accountable if their nominees engage in bribery and vote-buying practices, said Haykal. They should also vet their candidates more carefully to ensure that only those with strong commitment to combat corruption make the cut.
Scrapping direct election of regional leaders means returning to a more opaque way of choosing them, one that is even more prone to corruption and bribery, Haykal argued.
"As long as the political character of the parties remains the same, changing the system will only shift the 'dark' political costs to the DPRD."
The move would also be a blow to democracy in Indonesia as it gives power to a few in the legislative elite rather than the people, another analyst said.
"Political transactions will be higher, and regional heads will be held hostage by the political interests of the DPRD elites who elected them," said Titi Anggraini, an election law expert from University of Indonesia.
She said the government should focus on improving the quality and integrity of regional elections by better monitoring of how campaign funds are sourced and spent, and tougher enforcement of the law.
"Scrapping direct elections is not the solution," she said.
Testing the waters?
Scrapping the direct election of regional leaders could also lead to a concentration of power at the central government level, experts said.
During the November 2024 regional elections, there were contests in which parties in Prabowo's coalition broke ranks.
In West Java, for example, the coalition was splintered into three camps with PKS and the National Awakening Party deciding to nominate their own candidates. Meanwhile, in Banten, Golkar parted ways with the coalition and formed an alliance with the PDI-P.
"The likelihood of such splits can be minimised if direct regional elections are scrapped," said Kunto Adi Wibowo, a communication science expert at Padjadjaran University.
To be sure, Prabowo and his Gerindra party have floated various ideas for indirect regional elections since 2014, even before he became president in 2024.
But with almost every major political party in Indonesia joining his coalition, scrapping direct election of regional leaders would mean Prabowo would have significant clout in deciding who gets to become regional leaders, Kunto said.
"Everything will be centralised," he said.
"Everyone will bow to the coalition's wishes and commands. This means his policies and programmes will go unchallenged at the provincial and district levels ... The implication of this is that people will have very little say in how their areas are developed."
With a supermajority in parliament, Prabowo's coalition could – at least on paper – easily pass revisions to the Regional Election Law. In practice, however, experts say convincing all coalition members to support the proposal may prove difficult.
"For smaller parties, direct regional elections provide an even playing field to compete with bigger parties," said Hendri of Paramadina University.
He added that Prabowo may not yet be fully committed to pushing the change through parliament.
"I think he is testing the waters and wants to see how the public – and more importantly his coalition – would react. If opposition to the proposal is strong, he will not go ahead with the plan."
Although parliament is scheduled to begin discussing revisions to the election laws next year, such deliberations have historically been heated and prolonged, with parties fighting hard to secure clauses that benefit them.
Titi of University of Indonesia said that even if parliament agrees to scrap direct election of regional leaders, civil society organisations could still petition the Constitutional Court to keep them in place.
She noted that the court has rejected multiple attempts to abolish direct local elections, issuing rulings that reinforce the principle that regional leaders must be elected.
If those legal efforts fail, she warned, there could be public backlash.
"If democratic principles are weakened, it will erode public trust and could trigger mass mobilisation by people who feel excluded from elite-driven politics," Titi said.