When Voters Get Bored with Elite Corruption
A coffee shop in the city of Medan, North Sumatra, has become the forum for many a discussion. It serves not only a place for visitors to enjoy coffee, but also to exchange ideas about all sorts of things, including political issues and corruption.
This is just what Herman Sembiring, 45, and his three friends were doing at the coffee shop located on Jl. Jamin Ginting on Monday. They sat around a wooden table. There were two photographs on a wall near them: one of the first President of the Republic of Indonesia, Sukarno, and the other of the shop’s owner. Near the two photos, a calendar carried the photo of a candidate to the House of Representatives (DPR).
While enjoying coffee, Herman often discussed political issues, especially related to local and general elections. However, his disappointment with politics is accumulating. He has lost hope, because almost all of the directly elected mayors of Medan, except the current Mayor Dzulmi Eldin, have ended up in prison.
Former mayor and deputy mayor Abdillah and Ramli Lubis were arrested by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) in 2008 for corruption in the procurement of fire trucks. Rahudman Harahap, the mayor of Medan for the 2010-2015 period, was also tried for corruption.
Two North Sumatra governors who were directly elected had the same fate. Former governor Syamsul Arifin was arrested by the KPK in 2010 in a corruption case pertaining to the regional budget (APBD) when he was the regent of Langkat.
The second directly elected former governor, namely Gatot Pujo Nugroho, was also tried by the KPK for corruption in three cases, namely the bribing of judges at the Medan State Administrative Court, the bribing of members of the North Sumatra Legislative Council (DPRD) and the corruption of grants and social assistance funds.
A total of 50 members of the North Sumatra DPRD for the periods 2009-2014 and 2014-2019 were also involved in corruption cases. The rise of corruption cases in North Sumatra is one of the causes of low voter turnout. Turnout in the 2015 Medan mayoral election was only 25.3 percent. In the 2008 North Sumatra gubernatorial election, only 47.10 percent of Medan residents showed up to vote, and that figure dropped to 36.58 percent in the 2013 gubernatorial election. Turnout in the city rose to 58.38 percent in the 2018 gubernatorial election, but that is still below the average voter turnout of 64.2 percent in North Sumatra.
Herman is one of the people who did not exercise their right to vote in Medan’s 2015 mayoral election. "Two mayors, a vice mayor, and two directly elected governors finally went to jail. Why should I vote again?"
Apathy
A commissioner of the General Elections Commission (KPU) of North Sumatra, Benget Silitonga, said the low voter turnout was partly caused by the corruption cases that involved political elites who won the elections. "Our interviews with voters show that the main factor keeping them from exercising their right to vote was rampant corruption," he said.
A recruitment system in political parties that does not involve the community has contributed to voter apathy. "Political parties consider public participation only when they are in the voting booth. In fact, community participation should begin with the selection of candidates for regional elections or legislative elections," Benget said.
Separately, Burhanuddin Muhtadi, a researcher at the Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI), said 83 percent of respondents in a survey conducted by the LSI believed democracy was the best form of government and political system. However, 52 percent of respondents said corruption in Indonesia had increased in the past two years.
Does this then create public doubt in democracy and a reluctance to become involved in the process, for instance through general elections or local elections? Burhanuddin said such an effect did not appear directly. The community would feel isolated, because the existing political system does not change anything for them. "Some of those who feel isolated by this political system [feel that way] because of corruption, and then they choose abstention," he said.
Different phenomena
Different conditions are seen in Banten. Atut Chosiyah, the Banten governor for the 2007-2014 period, was arrested by the KPK in a corruption case. The KPK also arrested Atut’s brother, Tubagus Chaeri Wardhana.
However, in Banten’s 2017 gubernatorial election, voter turnout was relatively high at 63 percent of the 7.7 million registered voters. In the election, Atut\'s son Andika Hazrumy, running for deputy governor, and Wahidin Halim, the candidate for governor, won the most votes.
Association for Elections and Democracy researcher Fadli Ramadhanil said the difference in connection between corruption and voter turnout in Medan and in Banten may be explained by socio-demographic factors. Medan is an urban area with apathetic voters because elected regional heads were involved in corruption several times.
"In Banten, despite cases of corruption, voter turnout remained high. This could be because there is an identification with parties, and there are strong political preferences […]. There can also be a mobilization of political forces," said Fadli.
In addition, according to Abdul Hamid, lecturer at the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences at Sultan Ageng Tirtayasa University, the people of Banten generally considered corruption common practice. "The understanding that corruption impoverishes people, leaves roads damaged and causes schools to collapse does not yet exist in the minds of the majority of Banten people," he said.
Hamid said he had conducted a survey on vote-buying practices in the 2015 Serang regent election. "We wanted to know if the people voted according to their conscience or not. "The majority took the money and voted according to the request of the person who had given them the money," he said. If so, how can you break the chain of corruption that has damaged this democracy? (NSA /IAN /BAY/GAL).