TRIBUNNEWS.COM, JAKARTA – The Association for Elections and Democracy (Perludem) explains the dangers of general elections (elections) if only based on legal provisions, without considering the importance of ethics.
Perludem researcher Kahfi Adlan Hafiz initially mentioned a book entitled ‘How Democracies Die’, which among other things explains that elections as an arena for selecting leaders with democratic mechanisms can cause the collapse of the democratic state itself.
“Where a democratic country collapses by people who are elected through a democratic mechanism called elections,” said Kahfi, in a public discussion entitled ‘Dynasty Politics and Supreme Court Decisions: What is the Public and Media Response?”, which was held virtually, on Friday (14/6/2024).
“Why did it collapse? Because they only rely on legal provisions, not ethical provisions, meaning that ethical boundaries are not used to then limit themselves to do anything that can maintain their power,” he added.
Kahfi gave examples of events that were considered not violating the law, but ignored the importance of ethics. For example, the genocide committed by Germany under Adolf Hitler and Israel today.
“That also uses a legal basis, but the ethical basis is missing,” he said.
He said, currently there are a lot of ethical problems, which not only occur in government, but also in election organizers. For example, when almost all members of the Indonesian KPU received ethical sanctions from the Indonesian Election Organizer Honor Council (DKPP).
“Including, for example, okay, indeed the President’s family or political family is not prohibited from advancing in the legal context, but in the ethical context it should be considered, because he will bring the government or elections full of conflicts of interest. There is a high risk of nepotism and favoritism,” Kahfi said.
“So, that’s what becomes dangerous, so the public must really consider that dynastic politics will not work in a democratic country and a democratic country will not succeed if it is run by dynastic politics itself,” Kahfi said.
Supreme Court changes governor candidate rule to 30 years old
The Supreme Court has granted the Garuda Party’s petition regarding the minimum age limit for regional head candidates.
This was confirmed by the Supreme Court through Decision Number 23 P/HUM/2024 which was decided on Wednesday (29/5/2024).
“Granting the petition for judicial review from the Petitioner: Garda Republik Indonesia Party (Garuda Party),” read the verdict as available on the Supreme Court’s official website.
The Supreme Court stated that Article 4 paragraph (1) letter d of the Regulation of the General Election Commission of the Republic of Indonesia Number 9 of 2020 concerning Candidacy for the Election of Governors and Deputy Governors, Regents and Deputy Regents, and/or Mayors and Deputy Mayors contradicts Law Number 10 of 2016.
Through this decision, the Supreme Court mandated the KPU to change Article 4 paragraph (1) letter d of the KPU Regulation, from originally requiring candidates for governor (cagub) and deputy cagub to be at least 30 years old as of the determination of candidate pairs to after the inauguration of elected candidates.
Article 4 Paragraph (1) letter d PKPU which is declared contradictory reads:
“at least 30 (thirty) years old for Candidates for Governor and Deputy Governor and 25 (twenty-five) years old for Candidates for Regent and Deputy Regent or Candidates for Mayor and Deputy Mayor as of the determination of the Candidate Pair”,
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court changed the Article to read:
“…. is at least 30 (thirty) years old for candidates for governor and deputy governor and 25 (twenty-five) years old for candidates for regent and deputy regent or candidates for mayor and deputy mayor as of the inauguration of the elected candidate pair”.
Furthermore, the Supreme Court ordered KPU RI to revoke Article 4 paragraph (1) letter d of PKPU Number 9 concerning the Nomination for the Election of Governor and Deputy Governor, Regent and Deputy Regent, and/or Mayor and Deputy Mayor.
The Supreme Court’s decision is suspected to be a red carpet for President Jokowi’s son, Kaesang Pangarep, to run in the 2024 governor election (Pilgub).
Previously, the Constitutional Court also granted a lawsuit related to the age limit for presidential and vice presidential candidates by Surakarta University (Unsa) student Almas Tsaqibbirru on October 16, 2023.
In this lawsuit, the applicant wants the Constitutional Court to change the minimum age limit for presidential and vice-presidential candidates to 40 years or experience as Regional Heads at both the Provincial and Regency / City Levels.
“Granting the petition in part,” said Anwar Usman, in court, Monday (16/10/2023).
So that Article 169 letter q of Law 7/2017 on Elections reads in full:
“At least 40 years old or have / are currently holding positions elected through general elections including regional head elections.”
However, the decision is controversial. In fact, it is considered invalid by a number of experts.
This is because the decision was thick with allegations of a conflict of interest between Anwar Usman and his nephew, namely President Jokowi’s son, Gibran Rakabuming Raka.
The decision is suspected of smoothing Gibran’s steps to advance as a vice presidential candidate to accompany Prabowo Subianto in the 2024 presidential election.
Photo: A public discussion titled ‘Dynasty Politics and Supreme Court Decision: What is the Public and Media Response?”, which was held virtually, on Friday (14/6/2024).
This article has been published on Tribunnews.com with the title Political Dynasties, Perludem Reveals the Dangers of Elections Based on Law without Ethics, Siggung Adolf Hitler, https://www.tribunnews.com/mata-lokal-memilih/2024/06/14/dinasti-politik-perludem-ungkap-bahaya-pemilu-bersandar-hukum-tanpa-etik-siggung-adolf-hitler.