Denny JA: Ordinary Dynasty Politics Occurs In Democracy Countries

JAKARTA - Founder of the Indonesian Survey Circle (LSI) Denny JA said dynastic politics is commonplace in democratic countries, both developed and developing countries, and people's voices are the determinants in this.

"In the United States, George H. W. Bush and his eldest son, George W. Bush, both of them were president; while his other son, John E. Bush, was governor in Florida," Denny said in a written statement received in Jakarta, Saturday, October 21.

According to him, this happened as a consequence of the application of democratic principles, especially the principle of equality of rights.

"All citizens have the same right to become leaders. A citizen, whether he is the son of a farmer or the son of the president, should not be discriminated against," added Denny.

In addition, he continued, the constitution, which is the highest rule in a democratic country, does not prohibit children of officials from becoming regional leaders or national leaders when their parents are still in office.

Moreover, according to Denny, the success of someone who participates in political contests in Indonesia is determined by the people through direct, general, free, secret, honest, and fair elections.

"In the end, the determination of whether or not a leader is elected is based on the results of the general election," he said as quoted by Antara.

He also said several examples of community roles in political competition in Indonesia.

For example, when the three children of the first President of the Republic of Indonesia Soekarno founded the party, only Megawati Soekarnoputri succeeded in becoming the leader of a major party in Indonesia with thousands of cadres and sympathizers.

Meanwhile, Sukmawati Soekarnoputri with the Indonesian National Party Marhaenism and Rachmawati Soekarnoputri with the Pioneer Party were not very popular with the public.

"Therefore, if the Mayor of Surakarta Gibran Rakabuming Raka (President Joko Widodo's eldest son) is elected as a candidate for vice president to accompany Prabowo Subianto, the people will also be the determinant (in the 2024 presidential election)," said Denny.

Currently, Gerindra Party Chair Prabowo Subianto is the only presidential candidate who has not yet determined whether to run for vice president or register with the Office of the Indonesian General Elections Commission (KPU).

Gibran was called to become a vice presidential candidate for Prabowo after receiving a lot of support from various parties, including the Golkar Party and the Projo volunteer organization.

To note, the Indonesian KPU opened the registration of prospective presidential and vice presidential candidates for the 2024 General Election on 19-25 October 2023.

As regulated in Law Number 7 of 2017 concerning General Elections (UU Pemilu), pairs of presidential and vice presidential candidates are proposed by political parties or coalitions of political parties participating in the election who meet the requirements for obtaining seats of at least 20 percent of the total number of seats in the DPR or obtaining 25 percent of valid votes nationally in the previous election for members of the DPR.

Currently, there are 575 seats in parliament so that the pairs of presidential and vice presidential candidates in the 2024 presidential election must have at least 115 seats in the DPR RI. It could also be that the candidate pairs are promoted by political parties or a combination of political parties participating in the 2019 Election with a total valid vote acquisition of at least 34,992,703 votes.