Yusril: Direct or Through DPRD Pilkada is Both Constitutional

JAKARTA - Coordinating Minister for Legal, Human Rights, Immigration, and Corrections (Menko Kumham Imipas) Yusril Ihza Mahendra said the direct and indirect gubernatorial elections through the DPRD are both constitutional or not in conflict with the constitution.

Yusril said the provision refers to Article 18 of the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia which states that regional heads are democratically elected, without explicitly stating the election mechanism.

"The regional head is directly elected or through the DPRD, both of which are constitutional. The norm of Article 18 of the 1945 Constitution only requires that the election be carried out democratically," said Yusril in a statement reported by ANTARA, Friday, January 9.

Personally, Yusril believes that the direct election through the DPRD is in line with the philosophy of popular sovereignty, as formulated in the fourth paragraph of the opening of the 1945 Constitution, namely the principle of popularism led by wisdom in consultation/representation.

"This principle teaches that democracy is not run by everyone based on their own thoughts, but through wisdom and wisdom and is carried out in the deliberative institutions; MPR and representatives; DPR and DPRD," he said.

Philosophically, he explained that a large number of people are unlikely to conduct direct deliberation. Therefore, the deliberation mechanism can only be carried out through representative institutions, such as the MPR, DPR, and DPRD.

"Consultation is only possible through a deliberative body or institution and representatives. This is the philosophy of statehood formulated by the founding fathers. However, in the era of reform, we often forget," he said.

In terms of implementation, Coordinating Minister Yusril assessed that direct elections actually caused more harm than benefits. One of the main problems he highlighted was the high cost of politics in direct elections.

"Pilkada is clearly expensive. This high cost encourages the elected regional heads to abuse their power in order to cover the political costs that have been incurred," he said.

He assessed that supervision of the practice of money politics was much more difficult in direct elections because it involved tens of thousands to millions of voters. "It is easier to supervise the limited number of DPRD members, compared to supervising millions of voters in direct elections," he added.

In addition, Yusril also said that the election through the DPRD opens up greater opportunities for the election of regional heads who have the capacity and integrity, compared to direct elections which are considered to give room for candidates who only rely on popularity or capital strength.

"Indirect elections are more likely to elect candidates who have the capacity to be elected, not merely because they are popular or have a lot of money," he said.

However, Yusril emphasized that the debate regarding the mechanism for the election of regional heads should not be treated in black and white.

According to him, in the current condition, the main focus that must be done is to improve the direct pilkada system so that various harms that have emerged can be reduced.

The improvements, said Yusril, include the arrangement of political financing, strengthening supervision of the practice of political money, as well as improving the quality of cadre and recruitment of candidates for regional heads by political parties.

He is aware of the aspirations of a number of political parties who want the change in the gubernatorial election system to be indirect through the DPRD. However, Yusril emphasized that the voice of the people must still be the main reference in determining the direction of democratic policies in the regions.

"The voice of the people who want an indirect election or still want a direct election must be listened to and observed by the government, DPR, and political parties fairly and wisely," he said.

According to Yusril, democracy requires openness to hear the aspirations of the people, as well as a shared responsibility to ensure that any system chosen will be run fairly, honestly, and civilized.

"Any system that will be decided by the Government and the DPR in revising the Regional Head Election Law, must be respected by all parties as a democratic decision," said Coordinating Minister Yusril.