On August 22, 2024, Indonesia saw protests in several cities including Jakarta, Yogyakarta, Semarang, Makassar and Bandung, as thousands of protestors took to the streets to express their opposition to a parliamentary move.
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On August 20, 2024, Indonesia’s top court issued a ruling that was seen as a victory for democratic principles. The court decided that political parties would not require a minimum 20% representation in regional assemblies to field a candidate.
This decision was aimed at fostering a more inclusive political environment allowing smaller parties to participate in regional elections.
Additionally the court upheld the current minimum age limit of 30 for candidates barring younger aspirants including President Joko Widodo’s 29-year-old son, Kaesang Pangarep from running in upcoming elections.
Within 24 hours of the court’s decision, the Indonesian parliament dominated by President Widodo’s supporters tabled an emergency motion to reverse these changes.
The proposed legislative amendments, if passed would maintain the status quo favoring the ruling coalition which includes President Widodo and Prabowo Subianto.
The parliamentary move has triggered massive protests across the country with tens of thousands taking to the streets in cities such as Jakarta, Padang, Bandung and Yogyakarta.
The situation in Jakarta has been tense with protesters clashing with police outside the parliament building. Protesters attempted to tear down the gates of the legislature, while others called for calm.
Protesters in other cities also faced off with police, who were deployed in large numbers to maintain order.
The protests is from a series of rulings made by Indonesia’s Constitutional Court on August 20, 2024, concerning the eligibility and electoral thresholds for candidates in the upcoming local elections scheduled for November.
The court removed the 20% legislative seat threshold or the 25% popular vote threshold required for political parties or coalitions to nominate candidates for regional heads.
This decision opened the door for various candidates including popular former Jakarta governor Anies Baswedan to potentially re-enter the political arena.
The court upheld an age requirement that gubernatorial candidates must be at least 30 years old at the time of their registration, closing the door on the possibility of Kaesang Pangarep, the youngest son of outgoing President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) running for governor of Central Java. Kaesang, who turns 30 only in December 2024, would be ineligible under this ruling.
Indonesia’s parliament led by its Legislative Body (Baleg) acted to overturn the Constitutional Court’s rulings.
On August 21, 2024, just a day after the court’s decisions, Baleg introduced a bill that sought to amend the 2016 Regional Elections Law reversing the court’s rulings on both the electoral thresholds and the age requirement.
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Baleg’s bill reintroduced the 20% legislative seat threshold or 25% of the popular vote, as a requirement for nominating candidates.
This move was seen as an attempt to block candidates like Anies Baswedan, who is under the new ruling.
The bill also proposed that the age requirement for gubernatorial candidates apply at the time of inauguration, not registration.
The parliament’s actions were criticized as an unconstitutional power grab aimed at preserving the political influence of the outgoing president’s family and allies.
The bill’s introduction occurred in a lightning-fast manner, taking only seven hours with all but one of the nine parties in the House supporting the bill. The only dissenting party was the PDI-P.
The parliamentary action triggered immediate protests across the country. In Jakarta, thousands of demonstrators gathered in front of the House of Representatives (DPR) building, where security measures including barbed wire and concrete fences and it had been set up to prevent entry.
The crowd managed to tear down a section of the fence and tensions escalated when bottles were thrown at members of parliament who attempted to address the crowd.
Nearly 3,000 security personnel were deployed at the locations including the Arjuna Wijaya Statue and the Merdeka Palace.
In Semarang the protests turned violent as demonstrators damaged the fence of the local parliament building. Similar scenes of unrest were reported in other cities such as Yogyakarta, Makassar and Bandung, where students and activists led demonstrations demanding that parliament respect the Constitutional Court’s rulings and reject the politics of dynasties.
A viral image featuring the words Emergency Alert above Indonesia’s national emblem, the Garuda, became a symbol of the growing discontent.
Celebrities and public figures were among those who shared the image including Wanda Hamidah, a Golkar politician, who announced her resignation from the party in protest.
In a Instagram post, she declared “I’m out of Golkar. I don’t want to be on the wrong side of history. I love my country too much. Indonesia is not for sale.”
Due to the protests and the failure to achieve a quorum, the House of Representatives postponed the plenary session intended to ratify Baleg’s bill.
Political observers believe that the House is rushing to pass the bill before the local election registration begins on August 27, 2024.
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