May 24, 2024
JAKARTA – Well-networked contenders are likely to feature prominently in the upcoming simultaneous regional elections as dynastic politics rears its head once again, just months before voters return to the polls in November to elect their regional leaders.
Relatives of a serving politician running for elected office has become commonplace since 2015, when the Constitutional Court lifted a ban on conflicts of interest in the Regional Elections Law.
Following the victory of Surakarta Mayor and First Son Gibran Rakabuming Raka in clinching the vice presidency in February’s general election, at least one other member of the First Family, albeit by marriage, is planning to run for a higher office and extend President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s political legacy.
Medan Mayor Bobby Nasution, Jokowi’s son-in-law, is all but confirmed to run in North Sumatra’s gubernatorial race during the nationwide regional head elections. He was recently announced as one-half of the ticket backed by the Gerindra Party, which he joined after he was dismissed by the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) last year.
Asked about Bobby’s decision to run for governor, Jokowi told reporters on Tuesday that Bobby’s choice was entirely his own, and that a parent could only “pray” and wish children well in their endeavors.
But Bobby is not the only well-connected contender in this year’s regional head elections, which is being held simultaneously for the first time.
Vice President Ma’ruf Amin also looks set to have a family member contesting the November elections. National Awakening Party (PKB) politician Ahmad Syauqi, one of Ma’ruf’s eight children, announced on Monday that he intended to run for Banten governor as part of the PKB’s pool of prospective candidates.
“As a Banten native, I would like to protect the province. That’s why I feel Banten is calling me,” Ahmad said on Monday, as quoted by Kompas.com.
If his candidacy is confirmed, Ahmad is likely to come up against Golkar Party politician Airin Rachmy Diani, a former two-term Tangerang mayor and sister-in-law of former Banten governor Ratu Atut Chosiyah, who was released on parole in 2022 after serving two-thirds of her 12-year sentence for two cases of corruption.
Dubbed the “Atut dynasty” for its long stranglehold on the province, several other members of the disgraced governor’s family have also held elected office in Banten.
Elsewhere across the country, the regional head elections appear to have once again become a family affair.
In East Kalimantan, Golkar politician and House of Representatives lawmaker Rudy Mas’ud is set to contest the gubernatorial election.
His two older brothers, incumbent Balikpapan Mayor Rahmad Mas’ud and Golkar’s East Kalimantan Legislative Council (DPRD) member Hasanuddin Mas’ud have expressed their respective intentions to run for reelection and for Kutai Kartanegara mayor.
The sons of other politicians are reportedly eyeing regional leadership posts in November, when voters elect governors in 37 provinces, excluding Yogyakarta, as well as mayors and regents in over 500 regencies and municipalities.
Kediri Regent Hanindhito Himawan Pramana, who is a son of Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung, a member of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), is thought to be preparing for a reelection bid in the Central Java regency.
Arya Fernandes, a political analyst at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), said on Wednesday that the numerous prospective candidates looking to contest the November elections confirmed that the country’s electoral democracy was heading toward dynastic politics.
“This has happened because of the high political capital needed to run in an election. Those with family members in incumbent positions [certainly] have it,” he told The Jakarta Post.
According to Arya, the prevalence of dynastic politics started with the 2024 general election, when Gerindra patron Prabowo and running mate Gibran won the presidential polls.
A CSIS study in April revealed that 138 of the 580 legislators elected in February were connected by blood or affiliated in some other way to incumbent lawmakers.
Kennedy Muslim of pollster Indikator Politik Indonesia meanwhile said the issue of dynastic politics was never a “deal breaker” for voters, who did not mind electing candidates from political families if they promised to solve more practical problems, such as inflation and unemployment.
“As long as you can deliver results, voters will turn a blind eye to the issue of dynastic politics. [A case in point] is Jokowi’s [sons], since carrying the family banner is not a liability but an asset, considering [the President’s] constantly high approval rating,” he said.