Should The President's Office Be Extended?

President Jokowi/Photo: Doc BPMI Setpres

JAKARTA - The discourse on adding another presidential term has strengthened again in early 2022. It was started by Muhaimin Iskandar. The general chairman of the PKB said the discourse was disclosed because there were inputs from MSME players, business people and economic analysts. It was continued by the General Chair of Golkar, Airlangga Hartarto, who accepted the aspirations of oil palm farmers in Riau. Not wanting to be left behind, the General Chair of PAN, Zulkifli Hasan, also supported the discourse.

Suddenly it became crowded because there were also not a few who refused. Starting from political parties, observers to community organizations.

There has been a lot of speculation. Those who agree say that due to the Covid-19 pandemic, economic recovery is needed. There are also those who call for sustainable development.

Meanwhile, those who refused also had various reasons. Syarief Hasan from the Democratic Party quoted the classic expression of Lord Acton (1833-1902), "Power tends to corrupt".

The discourse of extending the term of office of the previous president has already occurred. President Jokowi himself has said that he has rejected the presidential term of office for 3 terms but has not answered firmly about extending the term of office. However, President Jokowi should remember that the New Order collapsed and reform began with the fall of President Suharto, who was in power for 32 years.

At that time, reform was carried out to eradicate KKN (Kollution, Corruption, Nepotism). Even if it's not better now. Or even some think it's worse. During the reformation era, the president's powers were also limited. Only two terms of office.

And it must also be remembered that the 2024 election is a constitutional mandate. If it is postponed, then there must be changes to the Election Law in parliament. To change it, party representatives in the DPR must agree.

President Jokowi, as political observers hope, firmly rejects the extension discourse. In addition to having to amend the law, of course this will drain a lot of energy. It also doesn't make sense to extend the president's term for the sake of economic recovery. In fact, the Covid-19 pandemic is quite disturbing the national economy and certainly has an impact on the people. Not to mention the impact of the Russian attack on Ukraine.

It would be better if the energy is used for the welfare of the people. Such as eradicating corruption or managing the scarcity of cooking oil and rising soybean prices are not just to perpetuate power.