Muhammadiyah Rejects Extension Of The Position Period Of The Village Head To 9 Years

The village head and village head tried to ride a new official motorbike which was distributed after the handover ceremony and the Motor Division of the Lurah New Service and the Village Head in Wonogiri, Central Java (ANTARA PHOTO/Mohammad Ayudha/rwa.)

JAKARTA - The PP Muhammadiyah Institute for Public Wisdom and Policy asked the term of office of the village head (kades) to remain for six years with a two-term limit, in order to maintain democratic principles.

"This is unhealthy for the climate of a democratic country. The majority of the leadership spans in countries with good democracy are four to six years," said LHKP PP chairman Muhammadiyah Ridho Al-Hamd in a statement quoted by ANTARA, Friday, June 23.

Previously, the DPR Baleg proposed changing the term of office of the village head from six years to nine years with changes to the periodization, namely from a maximum of three times the term of office to a maximum of two terms of office, either in a row or not.

However, the proposal has not yet met an agreement among all political party factions. Six factions agreed that PDIP, Golkar, PKB, Gerindra, PKS, and PPP were not yet present at the meeting, namely Nasdem, Democrats, and PAN.

Ridho is of the view that this change plan when viewed in general shows that the maximum time span for a person to become a village head is 18 years.

However, nine years in one term is too long for the community to evaluate the performance of the village head whether it is appropriate to be re-elected or not in the next Pilkades.

"In addition, the existence of a democratic system is to limit the term of office, not to extend it," he said.

According to him, too long the term of office of the village head also has the potential to abuse power (abuse of power) and can damage the substance of democracy that is already good.

Therefore, he said, six years is a wise choice and does not need to be extended again. If the performance of the village head is considered successful, they have a great opportunity to be re-elected in the second period.

"The maximum two-term basis is the right choice for the term of office of the village head. The two-time model adopted by many democratic countries," he said.

He hopes that the Legislative Council of the House of Representatives and Village Heads throughout Indonesia can be mature in responding to the term of office of the village head and not be trapped in the ambition of power.

"Thus, six years in one term of office for the village head with a maximum of two terms of office is the right and wise choice for Indonesia, which has passed a quarter of a century as a democratic country," said Ridho Al-Hamd.