Prabowo’s proposal to scrap regional elections in Indonesia stirs fears for democracy

Critics say the Indonesian president’s proposal to have local legislatures appoint regional leaders echoes Indonesia’s authoritarian past

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A man votes at a polling station in Tanjung Gusta, North Sumatra province, last month during Indonesia’s regional elections. Photo: Xinhua

Published: 11:00am, 18 Dec 2024

A proposal by Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto to scrap direct regional elections has sparked alarm among activists and political analysts who warn such a change could reverse the country’s hard-won democratic reforms.

Instead of holding a public vote for mayors and governors, Prabowo has suggested that local legislatures appoint these regional leaders. He justified such a move by saying that funds typically allocated for regional elections could be redirected to public welfare projects, including his initiative to provide free meals for schoolchildren.

“Let’s think and ask, what is this system? How many tens of trillions were spent from the state budget and the pockets of politicians in one or two days?” Prabowo said on Thursday while speaking at a national meeting of Golkar, Indonesia’s oldest political party.

“We feel the democracy that we have … there are things that we need to fix together.”

This is not the first time Prabowo has criticised direct elections. In 2014, he described them as a “Western idea” incompatible with Indonesia’s cultural traditions, claiming they lead to vote-buying and moral decline.

His remarks last Thursday mark his first advocacy for a change to the electoral system since taking office in October.