Weak Parliamentary Political Control is the Cause of the Emergence of the Civil Society Shadow Cabinet

JAKARTA - Political observer Adi Prayitno, revealed that the emergence of a shadow cabinet initiated by academics, researchers, and civil society activists is a consequence of a democratic system that opens up space for various groups to deliver criticism of the government.

Moreover, the shadow cabinet is basically aimed at strengthening the check and balance function, especially when political control from the parliament is considered not to run optimally in overseeing government performance.

"The presence of a shadow cabinet is to provide checks and balances. Why is that? Because the narrative that has emerged so far is that there has never been any control that has occurred institutionally, especially from fellow politicians in Senayan," he said, Sunday, July 26.

Adi assessed that the emergence of critical groups such as shadow cabinets is a common phenomenon in democratic countries. Because, in a country that adheres to a democratic system, there is always room for groups of people to convey views that are different from the government, both in the form of criticism and constructive input.

"Because in a country that opens itself with a democratic system, one of the things that always comes up is voices that may have a narrative that is different from the political decisions of the government. It can be critical, it can be constructive, it can also convey different views," he explained.

The Executive Director of PPI added that the existence of the shadow cabinet actually shows that the democratic space in Indonesia is still open for the public to convey criticism of the government. "That indicates how democracy in Indonesia, how to provide criticism in Indonesia is quite open. Want to have a different view from the government, there is a shadow cabinet, this is part of the consequences of democracy," said Adi.

As is known, the shadow cabinet was launched by a coalition of academics, researchers, and civil society activists as an alternative channel of oversight of the government of President Prabowo Subianto. The initiative was initiated by constitutional law expert Feri Amsari together with Ahmad Jilul Qur'ani Farid from the Indonesian Transparency Society.

The coalition believes that the checks and balances function has weakened after the majority of political parties joined the government coalition. Therefore, the shadow cabinet is positioned as a evidence-based opposition tasked with evaluating government policies, drafting research-based policy alternatives, and becoming a public reference in assessing the performance of the cabinet.