So Twitter rightly exploded yesterday after our Parliament voted yes on passing the new Regional Election Law. The law basically return the regional, and local election system to be represented by their domestic parliament instead of a direct election system voted by the people. I have written my quick, feelings and thoughts piece (in Indonesian) at Kompasiana, but in here i just want to make a quick rundown on the political drama and strange things that happen following yesterday’s drama.
- Hours after the vote got official, the Indonesian twitter sphere got together and commented on the shameful display of the parliament by putting #ShameonyouSBY hashtag on their tweets. Seeing as how we have a large population of twitter user here in Nusantara, the hashtag trends worldwide for half a day yesterday. Pretty amazing display of solidarity and a measurable proof of how the people’s feeling of harsh disagreement and betrayal not just with the Parliament but also the President. SBY, of course, is short for Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, our first directly elected, first post-reform era President who serves for two full term.
- Why people are mad with the President is also pretty clear. The President’s own party in recent week seem to completely reverse its course of supporting the parliament’s motion and joining the good side in rejecting this law from being passed. Yet, at the very last second they decided to walk out from the building for some vague disagreement with the law’s finer points and pretty much makes the good side lost a guarantee.
- After the twitter display of anger, the President, who is in New York for the UN General Assembly put a press conference saying he is surprised at his own party decision to walk out, instructing a thorough investigation on who told them to walk out and generally saying he will fight this law to the constitutional court because he disagree with the law due to some part of it overlapping with a higher law.
- Problem is, one of the President’s son, Ibas is definitely in the building last night and he joined the whole gang of Democrat Party Senator who decided to walk out, plus the vice president of his party Max Sopacua is said to have got a permission from SBY for the decision to walk out. Source of this is Ruhut Sitompul, Demokrat’s high lieutenant.
- The President also have the power to not sign the law passed by the parliament in order to hold it from being a full-blown, official law. Why the President puts himself in a position of a civilian just observing and can only go to the constitutional court to stop this, is a question mark for his sincerity.
- Some people have said that the whole course reversal and then another by the Democrat Party is a ruse, wholly orchestrated by SBY to have a revenge on the next ruling party PDIP. This can be true but it is so shameful and childish i can only think that there must be some common sense left in the mind of our current President. He leaves office in less than a month and for this to be his final legacy, is it really that wise of a decision?
That’s it for now, i think. There are finer points to think about but the whole thing really is a shambolic display of democracy and a definite sign of how democracy in this country still has a very long way to go. I can only imagine what the next 5 year will look like, and it ain’t gone be good.