Indonesia Parliament Halts Election Revisions After Violent Protests

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News

JAKARTA, INDONESIA (Worthy News) – Indonesia’s parliament shelved plans to overturn a top court ruling on voting procedures after thousands protested and clashed with riot police in front of the legislature amid mounting concern about the status of democracy in the world’s largest Muslim nation.

If implemented, the changes could further consolidate the political influence of outgoing President Joko Widodo, who has been accused of placing family members and friends in key positions.

Worthy News learned that concerned minority Christians have been holding prayer meetings for the country, including in unregistered house church groups.

They prayed as Parliament met in an emergency session Thursday to overturn one decision on election procedures made by Indonesia’s Constitutional Court while amending another.

The legislature, dominated by supporters of outgoing President Joko Widodo and his successor, Prabowo Subianto, was scheduled to vote to reverse changes to election laws made by the constitutional court.

Its ruling this week effectively reopened the possibility of a vocal government critic running in regional elections.

Parties backing Prabowo had earlier this week rallied behind a single candidate for the influential post of Jakarta governor, killing off chances of the president-elect’s rival, Anies Baswedan, from running.

NEEDING BACKING 

At the time, Anies needed the backing of a party or a coalition of parties with at least 20 percent of seats in the local parliament, under rules for regional elections in place since 2016.

However, Wednesday’s Constitutional Court ruling lowered the threshold to under 10 percent, allowing Anies to be nominated by the party that had not named a candidate, PDIP.

The national parliament sought to return to the previous threshold, contradicting the country’s highest court in a move critics said would favor the outgoing president and his allies and freeze out any opposition.

“This is a republic. It’s a democracy, but if its leadership is decided by one person or an oligarchy, we can’t accept that,” said 29-year-old teacher Afif Sidik to reporters.

However, deputy parliament speaker Sufmi Dasco Ahmad said the incoming parliament would resume deliberations, meaning there would be no change in this year’s regional elections, scheduled for November.

The Indonesian government is also trying to circumvent the Constitutional Court’s decision to uphold the current minimum age limit of 30 for candidates. That would bar Widodo’s 29-year-old son, Kaesang Pangarep, from running in a regional contest in Central Java.

Widodo’s eldest son, Gibran Rakabuming Raka, is the incoming vice president who ran alongside Prabowo.

DOWNPLAYING DISPUTE

Widodo has downplayed the dispute, saying the amendments were part of the “checks and balances” of government, but large crowds, many of them students, strongly disagreed.

As tensions rose Thursday, police clashed with protesters in Jakarta, Indonesia’s largest city and capital, as tens of thousands of people gathered in protest of the government’s attempt to reverse the court ruling.

Scenes of chaos unfolded outside parliament as demonstrators tried to tear down its gates while others shouted for calm.

Police also clashed with those rallying in other major cities such as Padang, Bandung, and Yogyakarta.

As tense calm returned to the streets early Friday, it was clear the political crisis was far from over in Southeast Asia’s biggest economy, which has more than 280 million people.

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