Protests are planned in Indonesia on
Thursday as parliament looks to annul changes to election laws made by the
constitutional court, a reversal that could further strengthen the political
influence of outgoing President Joko Widodo.
The parliament's plan to unwind this
week's court rulings would block a
vocal government critic in the race for the influential post of Jakarta
governor, and also pave the way for Widodo's youngest son to run in elections
in Java this November.
The power struggle between the
parliament and the judiciary comes amid a week of dramatic political
developments in the world's third-largest democracy, and in
the final stretch of
the president's second term.
Widodo downplayed
the concerns, saying on Wednesday the court ruling and parliamentary
deliberations were part of the standard "checks and balances" of
government.
But legal experts and political
analysts have described the events as bordering on a constitutional crisis.
Elections analyst Titi Anggraini
characterised the manoeuvre as "constitutional insubordination" that
had the potential to stir unrest.
The political manoeuvres have
sparked a wave of criticism online, with blue posters featuring the words
"Emergency Warning" above Indonesia's symbolic national eagle shared
widely on social media.
Protests are planned outside the
parliament in Jakarta and also in the cities of Surabaya and Yogyakarta on
Thursday, with police deploying 3,000 personnel in the capital, according to
media reports.
'THIS IS A POWER STRUGGLE'
On Tuesday the Constitutional Court
revoked a minimum threshold requirement to nominate candidates in regional
elections and kept the minimum age limit of 30 years for candidates.
That ruling effectively blocks the
candidacy of the president's 29-year-old son Kaseang Pangarep from contesting
the race for deputy governor in Central Java, and would allow Anies Baswedan,
the current favourite, to run in Jakarta.
But within 24 hours the parliament
had tabled an emergency revision to annul the changes, which it is expected to
ratify on Thursday, said legislator Luluk Hamidah.
All parties except one, the Democratic
Party of Struggle (PDI-P), have agreed to the revision of the law.
"Indonesian democracy is once
again at a crucial crossroads," Anies posted on social media platform X,
urging legislators to remember its fate rested in their hands.
The parliament is now dominated by a
big-tent coalition aligned to the outgoing president, popularly known as
Jokowi, and president-elect Prabowo Subianto.
Prabowo, who won a landslide victory
in February's elections, will be inaugurated on Oct. 20, with Jokowi's eldest
son, Gibran Rakabuming Raka, as his vice president.
Jokowi is facing mounting criticism
for the increasingly bold ways his government is consolidating power, and over
the creation of his own political dynasty.
"The ruling of the
constitutional court is final and binding," said Bivitri Susanti, from the
Jentera School of Law,
"It is not possible for the
legislative body to violate the judiciary's ruling. This is a power
struggle."
First elected in 2014, Jokowi was at
the time hailed as a democratic hero, in large part because he was seen as
untethered from the country's entrenched oligarchy and military elite.
The president has been praised for
his solid economic record but increasingly criticised for the democratic
decline of the country's institutions, such as the courts and anti-corruption
body, that has occurred during his decade in office.