TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - This weekend, I’d like to encourage you to read again this important book titled How Democracies Die by two Harvard political scientists, Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt. The book published in 2018, two years after Donald Trump became president, primarily talks about the state of democracy in the United States.
It also describes how democracies die democratically in many countries. This book reminds us that democracy can be killed by (pro-democracy) actors who rise to power democratically. It happens when they violate democratic principles which are not written in the constitution, outside of formal laws. In fact, democracy can be healthy if rulers ‘refrain from using power’.
Because when they use excessive power, they quickly turn into autocrats. Donald Trump broke the 157 years old norms of the American democracy when he appointed his daughter and son-in-law as top advisors. What he did was not legally or constitutionally wrong but ethically it could potentially lead to nepotism.
The book has also hit home for us as President Joko Widodo opened doors for his sons and son-in-law to political power. Gibran Rakabuming Raka, his eldest, is Solo Mayor, and Bobby Nasution, his son-in-law, is Medan Mayor. Now, Kaesang Pangarep, the youngest, is running for Depok Mayor.
Jokowi’s sons and son-in-law did not break any law. They are only exercising their constitutional rights as citizens. But ethically, Jokowi has betrayed what many people had hoped in him. A decade ago, we were elated when a politician of Jokowi’s caliber became a presidential candidate. He made history as a politician who rose from humble beginnings, from an ordinary Indonesian family, free of old political power, and as such, he radiated hope for a new Indonesia with a healthier democracy.
Less than a decade later, Jokowi has turned his back on that hope. If Suharto appointed his own daughter, Siti Herdianti Rukmana, as Social Minister, Jokowi is letting his sons and son-in-law climb the political ladder to power. His position as president clearly influenced voters who are ignorant about the danger of a political dynasty as such. The question is ‘for what?’
This week’s edition will try to review the expansion of the Jokowi family’s clout in Indonesian politics. He has openly stated that he would be actively involved in the 2024 presidential election--a rather unethical thing to say or do. Although he does not have a party of his own, Jokowi has volunteers--a group of people who can convince voters to support any candidate of their choosing. Backed by these volunteers, Jokowi wants to meddle in the election of his successor. Much like showing his tendency to support Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto, his rival in the previous two presidential elections.
He is also continuing to build power through his sons and son-in-law. After the plans to extend his tenure and delay the elections failed, he now turned his focus on nudging his family members to power. This approach can be seen as Jokowi’s strategy to stay relevant and have a role in Indonesian politics. With staunch volunteer organizations behind him, he will remain a force to be reckoned with on our political map. They may come up with many reasons, one being the continuity of the programs he initiated during his two terms. Or, well, Jokowi has simply become addicted to power.
Whatever the intentions behind his political maneuver, he has behaved inappropriately in democracy. How Democracies Die warns us that democratic systems collapsed and decayed in many nations because leaders failed to ask if anything was wrong with what they believed was right.
Have a good week.
Bagja Hidaya
Executive Editor
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