Mahfud: Indonesian Democracy Is Still Procedural, Not Substantial

Menkopolhukam Mahfud MD (Photo: Irfan Meidianto / VOI)

JAKARTA - The Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs (Menkopolhukam) Mahfud MD said that the Indonesian democratic system is still in a procedural phase and has not entered into a substantial phase.

Mahfud said this in the launch of the Indonesian Democracy Index (IDI) book at the Kemenkopolhukam office, Jalan Medan Merdeka Barat, Central Jakarta, Tuesday, November 24.

"To get there (substantial democracy) requires a long process, supported by all aspects concerning the readiness of the structure, substance and a mature and quality democratic culture," said Mahfud.

Mahfud said that the IDI book was issued by Kemenkopolhukam in collaboration with the Ministry of Home Affairs, Bappenas and the Central Statistics Agency (BPS).

The Indonesian Democracy Index (IDI) was first initiated by Bappenas in 2008 to assist political development planning and was published in 2009. IDI 2019 is the eleventh assessment, following previous assessments that have been conducted annually since 2009.

IDI provides a complex picture of Indonesian democracy, in which high and low achieving indicators are scattered across all aspects. This made it difficult to characterize Indonesia's democratic conditions as good or bad.

Mahfud said, the government published the IDI Book this time to provide a comprehensive explanation of the portrait of democracy produced through IDI measurements during 2019.

"The results of the 2019 IDI can be a reference for the central and local governments in preparing development plans in the political field," said Mahfud.

Specifically, the aspects of democracy measured in the IDI are civil liberties with 4 variables and 10 indicators, political rights with 2 variables and 7 indicators, and democratic institutions with 5 variables and 11 indicators.

IDI results are presented in the form of numbers from 0 being the lowest to 100 being the highest. This figure is divided into the following performance quality categories: 60 80 Good.

From the results of the IDI 2019 measurement, there are 7 provinces with the quality category of achievement "Good" (score> 80), namely DKI Jakarta (88.29); North Kalimantan (83.45); Riau Islands (81.64); Bali (81,38); Central Kalimantan (81.16); East Nusa Tenggara (81.02); and the Special Region of Yogyakarta (80.67). Out of these 7 provinces, 26 provinces showed the achievement of democratic conditions in the "moderate" category (Score 60-80), and 1 province with the achievement category "Poor" (Score <60).

Furthermore, Mahfud said that the achievement of the democracy index in 2019 was 74.92. This figure is the highest during the eleven years of measurement which is around the 70s.

"This achievement indicates the quality of democracy which is 'moderate' democracy which is marked by the presence and functioning of democratic systems and institutions, but still leaves a number of problems," he concluded.