Advocates of democracy in Indonesia and across the globe breathed a sigh of relief when the Indonesian Constitutional Court ruled against presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto's legal challenge of the country's April presidential election result. Prabowo's challenge was always expected to fail — his protestations of electoral fraud were based on little more than hot air. Nevertheless, Indonesians were set at ease by the return of the rightfully-elected candidate, Joko Widodo, for five more years.
Despite the turbulent political, social and religious events that have recently engulfed the nation, the Constitutional Court's ruling confirms that Indonesian democracy can move forward confidently; renewing the stability and effectiveness it has mostly delivered during its Reformasi period. In other words, alarm bells aren't ringing over the health of its democracy.
The appetite for electoral politics in Indonesia has continued. The turnout rate was 80.5 per cent in the 2019 elections. While this is lower than its first legislative election in 1999, which saw a 93 per cent turnout rate, these are numbers that established democracies like the United States and Britain could only dream of. Considering that Indonesia is a country composed of over 17,000 islands (of which 6000 are inhabited), a population of 264 million, and hundreds of languages and dialects, a high turnout rate is a colossal administrative and political task.
In terms of choice available to voters, there are countless parties competing for Indonesian votes. A handful of major parties have historically jostled for the office of president — Widodo's Indonesian Party of Struggle, Subianto's Gerindra, Golkar and the Democratic Party — while there is a surplus of political choice in legislative elections. These parties represent a range of political views, from social conservatism, pro-business centrism, nationalism, Islamic ideology, and beliefs based on Indonesia's state philosophy, Pancasila.
Though new and still developing, Indonesia's governmental institutions play an important role in securing the legitimacy of its elections and overseeing government action. The General Elections Commission has — for the most part — successfully administered ballots and counted electoral votes without fear or favour.
The Constitutional Court's special jurisdiction to determine the validity of elections, the registration and dissolution of political parties and undertake constitutional review of laws has tangibly strengthened Indonesian democracy and preserved public confidence in the system. The court also intervened in the 2014 presidential election, confirming Widodo's first election victory by dismissing Prabowo's unfounded claims of fraud, corruption and vote-counting errors.
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