Indonesia’s 2018 Regional Elections: The
Generals’ Election, More Officers In Politics, More Democracy? – Analysis
Several military and police generals have announced their candidacies
for the 2018 simultaneous regional elections before they retire from active
service. What induced these generals to enter politics and what does it portend
for Indonesian democracy?
Five active military and police generals have announced their early
retirement to contest in Indonesia’s highly anticipated regional elections
currently underway for governor or vice-governor. Their participation in the
elections, taking place all at the same time known as pilkada serentak, is a
significant development. Generals who enter politics usually do so after they fully
retire.
The generals have aligned themselves to different political parties in
these gubernatorial elections. These parties belong to either the ruling
coalition of President Joko Widodo, such as PDI-P, Golkar, NasDem and PAN, or
the opposition led by Prabowo Subianto, such as Gerindra and PKS. For the
regional elections, however, the political alignments are more fluid as
candidates may end up being backed by parties that do not support them at the
national level.
Who Are The Generals?
The senior officers who retired prematurely include Lieutenant General
Edy Rahmayadi (formerly Chief of Army Strategic Reserve Command/KOSTRAD);
Brigadier General Edy Nasution (formerly Commander of Riau Military Resort
Command); Inspector General Murad Ismail (formerly Chief of the Police’s
Paramilitary Unit, the Mobile Brigade Corps/BRIMOB); Inspector General
Safaruddin (formerly East Kalimantan Regional Police Chief); and Inspector
General Anton Charliyan (formerly Deputy Head of the Police Education and
Training Institute) who previously served as the West Java Regional Police
Chief.
Gen Edy Rahmayadi, who currently serves as the Chairman of Indonesian
Football Association (PSSI), is running as a candidate in North Sumatra
province with endorsement from Gerindra, Golkar, PAN, PKS, and NasDem. Gen Edy
Nasution runs as a vice-governor candidate for the Riau province with
endorsement from Nasdem, PAN, and PKS. Gen Murad runs as a candidate in Maluku
province with endorsement from eight political parties, including PDI-P and
Gerindra.
Insp-Gen Safaruddin, on the other hand, runs as a vice-governor
candidate in East Kalimantan province, whereas Gen Anton runs as vice-governor
candidate in West Java. Both Safaruddin and Anton run on the PDIP ticket.
The Indonesian Constitution and election rules guarantee every citizen
the ability to exercise their political rights, including running in an
election, regardless of ethnicity, religion, gender, and profession. To
maintain impartiality and professionalism of state institutions, police
officers and military personnel are required to resign or retire from their
institutions should they wish to enter politics.
Slippery Slope?
How these regulations operate was demonstrated recently by Agus
Yudhoyono, a former major in the Indonesian Army, who retired early from the
military to run in the Jakarta gubernatorial election in 2017. Another case was
Yoyok Riyo Sudibyo, formerly a major in the Indonesian Army, who retired early
from the military to enter business, before running and getting elected as the
Regent of Batang in 2012.
Retired military and police officers, on the other hand, are free to
exercise their political rights given their having transitioned to civilian life.
It is a contentious issue when military and police officers express, even if
tacitly, their interest to exercise their political rights before they resign
from their posts. This is because it could affect the professionalism of the
respective institutions.
Given their extensive influence over the rank-and- file of the
respective institutions they lead and the strategic offices they hold, it is
feared their plan may lead to the abuse of authority, resulting in the
politicising of both institutions, directly or indirectly.
Indeed, the abovementioned legislations restrict both military and
police personnel from voting. Family members or close acquaintances, however,
could be enticed, as the legislations do not bind them. Additionally, military
personnel and police officers with patronage links to the candidates could be
mobilised to influence the outcome of the election in various subtle ways.
On top of institutional influence, relations with societal groups and
communities in a given region could be leveraged by the prospective candidates
from the military to gain an edge over their competitors.
Push and Pull Factors
Push and pull factors play a key role in the generals’ early transition
to politics. Personal aspirations seem to be a common driver. Generals Edy
Rahmayadi and Murad, for instance, had indicated their willingness to serve and
to help develop their respective home provinces. Another critical push factor
is the mandatory retirement age and the subsequent uncertainties that come with
it.
By transitioning early to politics using the momentum of the regional
elections, the generals could avoid the uncertainties of their own future.
Finally, the backlog in career pathways due to the shortage of posts in the
military is another compelling driver for military officers, not only generals
but also mid-ranking officers, pushing them to find alternative career paths.
The inability of political parties to groom party figures with extensive
political capital – i.e. financial resources, political networks and popularity,
among others – is a critical pull factor. The simultaneity of regional
elections means that parties would have to compete in numerous regions and at
different levels of the elections, in turn increasing the demand for capable,
tested and popular party cadres.
‘Ready-made’ Leaders?
Producing electable party-groomed cadres in numbers, however, is a time
consuming and costly undertaking. Moreover, as party identification in
Indonesia is low and individual figures feature more prominently in regional elections,
there is little guarantee the investment parties make in grooming their cadres
would yield pay off.
Military and police generals, therefore, are a logical group of
potential leaders to be tapped considering that they possess ready-to-use
political capital that could plug the chronic lack of leadership grooming among
Indonesian political parties. These generals are also relatively well-known
thanks to their military or police backgrounds, their capacity to bankroll
their own campaigns, and the substantial personal networks forged during their
time of service.
Even though their popularity and influence will slowly decline over
time, retired senior military and police officers remain suitable candidates.
More importantly, they can be recruited almost instantaneously without having
to exhaust precious resources or time to groom and train them.
Implications for Indonesia’s Democracy
What does this trend mean for Indonesia’s democracy? First, it shows
that political parties struggle to nurture electable party cadres, In the long
run, such deficiency may result in dependency on stop-gap solutions, which
reliance on military officers can lead to. The trend also shows that political
parties are highly short term-oriented, prioritising practical gains over long
term benefits.
Secondly, the trend may compromise both military and police
professionalism, particularly the need for both institutions to remain
politically neutral during election campaigns.
Although the political participation of active military and police
generals in elections may not directly contravene the existing laws and
regulations, it may compromise their commitment to professional ethics and
duties to safeguard the country and to uphold and enforce laws.
*Keoni Marzuki is a Senior Analyst with
the Indonesia Programme, S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS),
Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore. Dedi Dinarto is a Research Associate with the Indonesia Programme.
This is the first in a series on Indonesia’s simultaneous regional elections.
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