The simultaneous regional elections could fail to contribute to the strengthening of democracy if political opportunism is not addressed.
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Kompas/Bahana Patria Gupta
Candidate pairs Khofifah Indar Parawansa-Emil Elestianto Dardak (left) and Saifullah Yusuf-Puti Guntur Soekarno are seen during the drawing and announcement of candidates to contest East Java regional election at Hotel Mercure, Surabaya on Tuesday (13/2). The contestants will attend peaceful campaign joint declaration on Sunday (18/2).
JAKARTA, KOMPAS – The 2018 simultaneous regional elections could fail to contribute to the strengthening of democracy if political opportunism is not addressed. The political opportunism that leads to lone candidates, money politics and the exploitation of narrow-minded primordial sentiments could cause political apathy among the public.
At around 10 p.m. on Tuesday (13/2), the day after the candidates of the 171 local elections were officially announced, the data of the General Elections Commission (KPU) showed that 20 candidate pairs were ineligible to contest the elections. Meanwhile, data at the Election Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu) showed that 42 candidate pairs had been deemed ineligible, and that may file a petition to dispute their status.
The eligible candidate pairs obtained their ballot numbers in a random draw. Maintaining peace and order during the regional elections was among the commitments declared during the drawing of ballot numbers in the Central Java election, which two candidate pairs will contest. The Ganjar Pranowo-Taj Yasin pair drew ballot number 1, and the Sudirman Said-Ida Fauziyah pair drew ballot number 2.
In East Java, the ballot number drawing system was also used for candidates to socialize their campaign messages. Khofifah Indar Parawansa and Emil Elestianto, ballot number 1, said they would prioritize cooperation, while ballot number 2 candidates Saifullah Yusuf and Puti Guntur Soekarno said their campaign platform would be based on sustainable development.
Notes
The KPU data shows an increase in the number of regional elections that have put forth lone candidates. Of the 269 regions that held regional elections in 2015, only three had lone candidates. In the 2017 simultaneous elections, only nine of 101 regional elections had lone candidates.
KPU commissioner Ilham Saputra said that, in the 2018 elections, 10 regions would have lone candidates. Four other regions have also put forth lone candidates, but there is still a chance that more candidates might register. These four regions are: Lebak, Banten; Bone, South Sulawesi; Deli Serdang, North Sumatra; and Kapuas, Central Kalimantan.
The phenomenon of lone candidates generally occurs when incumbents seeking reelection gain the majority support of political parties and thereby prevent other potential candidates from gaining political support.
The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has arrested two candidates in the 2018 simultaneous elections for corruption in funding their campaigns. The two candidates are East Nusa Tenggara gubernatorial hopeful Marianus Sae and Nyono Suharli Wihandoko, who is running for Jombang regent in East Java. The two candidates and their respective running mates had been declared eligible by the KPU.
The Bawaslu has also begun finding the use of ethnic, religious, racial and intergroup issues in campaign banners in West Kalimantan. Another emerging issue is that of putra daerah (local sons), or localism, being used against non-local candidates.
Regional Autonomy Watch (KPPOD) executive director Robert Endi Jaweung said that the two biggest issues in local political contests were money politics and identity politics.
Association for Elections and Democracy (Perludem) executive director Titi Anggraini said that, if problems such as money politics, lone candidates and identity politics were neglected, they might trigger public apathy toward democracy and reinforce populist politics. This in turn might lead to the regional elections contributing to the weakening of democracy instead of strengthening democracy.
Titi was also concerned that a failure to resolve these three issues would be abused by the political elite to justify their argument that representative democracy had failed to contribute positively to civil society and that the selection of regional heads should be returned to the regional legislative councils (DPRD). However, the problem lay not with representative democracy, but instead lay with the political parties.
She therefore called on all election organization bodies to do everything within their capacities to the best of their abilities. This included informing the public that they still could still opt to abstain if they disagreed with the proposed programs of lone candidates.
Regarding money politics and the politicization of primordial sentiments, election watchdogs and law enforcement must follow up on the various memorandums of understanding that had been established. Political parties must also be more serious in recruiting and nurturing their members.
