COURT FREES UP POLITICAL SPACE FOR INDEPENDENT

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 JAKARTA 002051 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT FOR EAP, EAP/MTS, EAP/MLS, INR/EAP E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/29/2017 TAGS: PGOV KDEM KISL PINR ID SUBJECT: COURT FREES UP POLITICAL SPACE FOR INDEPENDENT CANDIDATES REF: A. JAKARTA 1157 ¶B. 06 JAKARTA 13419 JAKARTA 00002051 001.2 OF 002 Classified By: Pol/C Joseph Legend Novak, reasons: 1.4 (b) and (d). SUMMARY -------------- ¶1. (C) In a landmark ruling, the Constitutional Court decided July 23 to allow independent candidates to contest sub-national elections. The decision stemmed from a judicial review of the provision of the 2004 Regional Autonomy Law that stipulated that candidates must be endorsed by political parties. Once new election mechanics that reflect the ruling are drafted and implemented, unaffiliated candidates should be able to run for office at local levels. Observers say the Constitutional Court's decision -- which will not impact the ongoing Jakarta gubernatorial campaign -- should ultimately open up the Indonesian regional electoral process and eventually compel political parties to be more responsive to constituent needs. END SUMMARY. LANDMARK RULING -------------- ¶2. (U) Lombok councilor Lalu Ranggalawe initiated the judicial review of the Regional Autonomy Law after being barred from contesting the West Nusa Tenggara province governor's race as an independent candidate (Note: the province is in eastern Indonesia. End Note.) In the majority ruling (the judges split 6-3),Constitutional Court head Jimly Ashiddiqie announced that the Regional Autonomy Law violated the constitutional requirement that governors, provincial heads and mayors be elected "democratically." Ashiddiqie pointed to Aceh province in underscoring the importance of including political independents in the election process, and noted that a provision in the Special Aceh Autonomy Law exempted candidates in Aceh from the party affiliation requirement. (Note: Irwandi Yusuf won the Aceh gubernatorial elections last year as an independent candidate.) The ruling has no impact on national elections. DEVIL IN THE DETAILS -------------- ¶3. (U) In the wake of the Court's ruling, the Yudhoyono administration and the Indonesian House of Representatives (DPR) will have to develop new regional election guidelines that spell out precisely how independent candidates will be able to run. State Secretary Hatta Radjasa and DPR Chairman Agung Laksono both articulated their desire to settle the matter as quickly as possible and emphasized that regional elections would continue to unfold according to the current regulations -- meaning no independent candidates --- until a new electoral mechanism was in place. With 14 regional elections scheduled for 2007 and 2008, democracy advocates have publicly called on the President and the DPR to show a sense of urgency and fast-track the issue. Though the administration and several prominent parliamentarians have identified the need for new regulations as a top priority, our contacts doubted any new electoral mechanism would be in place for several months. JAKARTA: A CASE STUDY IN WHY RULING MATTERS -------------- ¶4. (C) As outlined in Ref A, the Jakarta Governor's race --which will not be impacted by the ruling -- has provided a stark illustration of the limitations of Indonesian participatory democracy when the political parties function as the sole arbiters of the field of competition. In the Jakarta context, Vice Governor Fauzi Bowo used deep pockets to secure the support of 17 political parties and crowd out all but one of his potential opponents. Several reform-minded candidates with fresh ideas and evident popular support were forced to the sidelines because they lacked formal party backing. As a result, what many believed should have been a serious campaign about the many problems plaguing a city still reeling from devastating floods, instead JAKARTA 00002051 002.2 OF 002 devolved into a non-substantive battle of political slogans. Not surprisingly, Jakarta voters have reacted to the two candidates with a collective yawn, and analysts predicted voter participation on August 8 could be as low as 35 percent. The Constitutional Court decision could prevent such a scenario from unfolding in the future. ¶5. (C) Sarwono Kusumaatmadja, a member of the Regional Representatives Council (DPD),was one of the prospective gubernatorial candidates that failed to secure the party support required to run in Jakarta. When we asked him about the Court ruling, he professed to having mixed emotions. On one hand, he portrayed the ruling as a clear victory for democracy, as it would allow Indonesian voters to vote for candidates directly without a political party filtering process. On the other hand, Sarwono could not completely hide his bitterness about the timing of the decision, noting that the ruling would not allow him to contest the Jakarta election. He accused the Court of intentionally withholding the decision until it was too late to take effect in Jakarta. Sarwono said he believed the Court tried "to have its cake and eat it too" by accommodating the pro-democracy movement with the ruling, while at the same delaying the announcement by several months in order to avoid offending the pro-Fauzi Bowo political oligarchy. PRAISE FOR COURT'S RULING -------------- ¶6. (C) Many NGOs and democracy advocates have hailed the Court's decision as a possible watershed moment in Indonesia's democracy consolidation process. The Constitutional Court's decision should ultimately open up the Indonesian regional electoral process and eventually compel the political parties to be more responsive to constituent needs. The Jakarta gubernatorial campaign has only been the most egregious example of a system that distorted the influence of the parties at the expense of the electorate. As noted, however, it will take at least several months to implement the new regulations that will govern this new process. HUME