Indonesia election 2024: will Gibran's chances be hurt by poll body's ethics scandal?
Gibran Rakabuming Raka, running mate to presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto and President Joko Widodo's son, has been tied to another ethics scandal regarding his registration with Indonesia's election governing body, leading to questions about how it could impact his ticket at the February 14 polls.
On Monday, the Election Organization Ethics Council (DKPP) found Hasyim Asy'ari, the chairman of the General Elections Commission (KPU), as well as six commissioners, to be guilty of breaching ethics for not amending the organisation's internal regulation on the minimum age of candidates before accepting Gibran's registration.
The first scandal surrounding the candidacy of Gibran, the 36-year-old mayor of Surakarta in Central Java, occurred on October 16, when the Constitutional Court ruled that those below the age requirement of 40 were still eligible to run in a presidential election if they had already been elected to a different office.
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The court's ethics board later found the ruling to be unethical because Anwar Usman, Widodo's brother-in-law who was also the court's chief justice at the time of the ruling, had failed to recuse himself. Anwar was later demoted from his position and is barred from ruling on any future election-related cases.
However, the court's ruling was allowed to stand, opening a path for Gibran to register with the KPU as the vice presidential candidate on Prabowo's ticket on October 25.
Instead of immediately seeking approval from lawmakers to revise the minimum age for candidates in its internal regulations to comply with the court's ruling, the KPU only informed political parties about the changes, the DKPP said on Monday.
The lawmakers only approved the revised regulation on October 31, six days after Gibran's registration.
For breaching KPU's regulations, Hasyim was slapped with a "final stern warning" while the six commissioners were given a "stern warning".
On Monday, Hasyim refused to comment on the ruling, only saying that "I have provided answers, evidence, and arguments" to the DKPP.
As with the Constitutional Court's ethics scandal, the DKPP's decision will not impact Gibran's vice-presidential bid as it does not have the authority to nullify an ongoing candidacy.
Habiburokhman, the deputy chair of the Prabowo-Gibran campaign team, told reporters that the DKPP's ruling "does not impact the candidacy of Prabowo-Gibran," adding that the KPU was at fault for not revising its regulation on time.
However, the KPU's ethics breach could potentially "weaken the legitimacy" of the election in the eyes of voters, according to Aisah Putri Budiarti, a political researcher with Jakarta-based National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN)
"Even though Gibran's candidacy remains valid, in this situation the KPU chairman [should] apologise to the public for the ethical issues and public chaos that occurred," she said.
"In other countries, such as Japan, there is a culture of shame among public officials where they will resign if they are proven to have made mistakes, especially ethical ones, in carrying out their duties. Indonesia should follow this culture of shame."
Ganjar Pranowo, the presidential candidate for the ruling Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and former governor of Central Java, said that the ethical breach by the election commission is "an alert for our democracy".
"The Constitutional Court has ethical problems, and then the KPU has ethical problems, what can we be proud of in this democratic process?" he said while on the campaign trail in West Java on Monday.
Anies Baswedan, the former Jakarta governor whose presidential ticket represents a coalition of opposition parties, also said that the ruling should be seen as an "alarm" to serve as a warning of potential violations in the coming election.
"Everything that is good will later be seen and conversely, everything that is bad will be revealed. This is a warning to all, do not allow any violations," Anies said.
Since last month, academics in Indonesia have issued statements urging for a fair and just election, as well as voicing concerns about democracy backsliding under Widodo's leadership. The academics include those from Widodo's alma mater, Gadjah Mada University, who urged him on January 31 to "immediately return to the corridors of democracy and prioritise the people's values and social justice".
The academics claimed that Widodo's recent statement that presidents could openly support certain candidates as well as the ethical breaches by the Constitutional Court are "a form of deviation and disregard for democratic principles".
Although Widodo has not officially endorsed any candidate, it is widely believed that he is tacitly supporting Prabowo and his son's ticket, leading to accusations that he is attempting to start a political dynasty.
While it remains unclear whether the latest scandal would dampen Prabowo's presidential hopes, BRIN's Aisah said that it might lead undecided or swing voters to avoid supporting the pair.
"I think the public today will always [try] to push for an ideal democracy for Indonesia, and in that context, ethical issues will become very important for them. [The undecided voters] may change their minds from being unsure about choosing this pair to being sure about not voting for them," she said.
In the latest nationwide polls, Prabowo is currently hovering at just over 40 per cent of voter support while his rivals Ganjar and Anies trail him with around 25 and 22 per cent, respectively.
This article originally appeared on the South China Morning Post (SCMP).
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