Mahfud Calls Indonesia An Authoritarian And Kleptocracy Country, KIM: Excessive Concerns

Golkar Party politician Dave Akbarshah Fikarno Laksono. (Between)

JAKARTA - The Forward Indonesia Coalition (KIM) responded to the statement of former Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Mahfud MD, who assessed that currently the resilience of democracy and the rule of law in Indonesia is weakening and heading towards authoritarian.

Golkar Party politician Dave Laksono views Mahfud's statement as excessive concern.

"I think it's a bit of a worry if it says the next government will be authoritarian, yes," Dave said in a short message to VOI, Sunday, September 15.

Dave emphasized that in today's open democracy, information can be easily discriminated against, and access to the latest news is quickly conveyed to the public. This can also prevent Indonesia's potential to become a kleptocratic country, oligarchy, cartelization as stated by Mahfud.

"With the democratic system and the media we have, I am sure that it will be a balancer and ensure that there will not be a way for Tang's government to deviate from the 1945 Constitution," he said.

Previously, Mahfud assessed that currently the resilience of democracy and a state of law in Indonesia is getting weaker. This was revealed by Mahfud in his inaugural 2024 lecture in the Masters and Doctors Program, Faculty of Law, Islamic University of Indonesia (UII) Yogyakarta, Saturday.

"Then came the oligarchy, a country controlled by a small group of people who have capital. There are also those who say that Indonesia is now a kleptocracy country, a country full of corruption, a country whose names are thieves. They want to steal even though they already have it," said Mahfud.

Mahfud views that recently there have been symptoms of directional reversal in law and politics. Politics tends to be authoritarian. The formation of laws and regulations seems to be unilateral.

"If (the authorities want), the law is discussed today, this afternoon so, tomorrow it can be passed. But if the authorities don't want it, the law for years will not be discussed," explained the former Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court (MK).

This constitutional law expert is of the view that the weakening of democracy and law in Indonesia has also resulted in the cooptas of law enforcement institutions.

Therefore, Mahfud reminded that the task of academics and the legal profession is to maintain and enforce it, as long as the state administration and constitution are still in effect.

"Professionals and law enforcers enforce professional ethics, and do not carry out collusion and manipulation," he added.