*This paper is the author’s personal view
The decision of the Constitutional Court which granted the request for a judicial review of Article 7 Letter r of Law (UU) number 8/2015 concerning Regional Head Elections, which prohibits regional head candidates from having conflicts of interest with incumbent regional heads, has become a new chapter of regional governance in Indonesia. The law was canceled because it was deemed to limit the constitutional rights of citizens.
The verdict on case number 33 / PUU-XIII / 2015 raised the polemic in the public domain about the impact of dynastic politics on the economy and efforts to build clean and anti-corruption governance. The dynastic political experience that has lasted for hundreds of years in our neighboring country, the Philippines, should be a lesson for us.
Research conducted by the Center for People Empowerment in Governance states that dynastic political practices occur in 94% of provinces or as many as 73 of the total 80 provinces in the Philippines. The 2013 research also noted that there was a single dynastic politics that monopolized power in 6 provinces in the Philippines over the last 25 years.
The practice of dynastic politics in Indonesia began to occur after the implementation of regional autonomy, especially since the first regional head elections (pilkada) were rolled out in 2005. However, genealogically, a number of areas where dynastic politics occurred have had their womb since the New Order era.
The acceleration in the emergence of dynastic politics can be seen from around 500 points with the trial cases of dynastic politics that have occurred in provinces and districts/cities that carry out regional elections. Based on data from the Directorate General of Regional Autonomy at the Ministry of Home Affairs in 2013, it is known that the proportion of districts that practice dynastic politics reaches 11% of the total districts in Indonesia.
The above facts are quite interesting because in just eight years from the holding of the first regional election, the growth of dynastic political experimentation in Indonesia is quite high when compared to the hundreds of years in the Philippines.
Economic Disincentives
This Constitutional Court decision also deserves to be watched out for because dynastic politics has the potential to provide disincentives for the economy. Instead of encouraging an accountable and anti-corruption government, dynastic politics has the potential to perpetuate rent-seeking behavior of political policies which are only controlled by the political inner circle of the dynasty that is currently in power.
This has led to what Barbara Harris-White calls the informal economy practice. His research in India shows that informal economy practices prioritize kinship patterns and tend to be intimidating. As a result, there have been a number of ongoing problems for the economic sector, such as stunted economic growth, poverty traps and rampant corruption.
Similar findings were made by Mendoza et al (2013), who found a relationship between dynastic politics and the persistence of poverty in several provinces in the Philippines. Furthermore, it was found that dynastic political practices weakened political competition and accountability which ultimately contributed to maintaining poverty rates in several provinces with extreme poverty levels. Unfortunately, often the largest segment of the voting population supporting candidates from dynastic politics also come from the poor.
Even more dangerous, dynastic politics has the potential to perpetuate a corrupt government. Ashikur Rahman (2013) in his dissertation at the London School of Economics found that countries with strong dynastic political regimes are more corrupt on average than those that do not practice dynastic politics. For example, two cases are currently being handled by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) which brought in the former Bangkalan Regent Fuad Amin and the former Tanah Laut Regent Ardiansyah. Apart from having a similarity because their corruption targets natural resources (natural gas and coal), both of them use their strong grip of influence and relationship with the head of the incumbent region who is none other than their own biological child.
Corruption on Natural Resources
This Constitutional Court decision also deserves to be watched out for as dynastic politics has the potential to provide disincentives for the economy. Instead of encouraging an accountable and anti-corruption government, dynastic politics has the potential to perpetuate rent-seeking behavior of political policies which are only controlled by the political inner circle of the dynasty that is currently in power.
This has led to what Barbara Harris-White calls the informal economy practice. His research in India shows that informal economy practices prioritize kinship patterns and tend to be intimidating. As a result, there have been a number of ongoing problems for the economic sector, such as stunted economic growth, poverty traps and rampant corruption.
Similar findings were made by Mendoza et al (2013), who found a relationship between dynastic politics and the persistence of poverty in several provinces in the Philippines. Furthermore, it was found that dynastic political practices weakened political competition and accountability which ultimately contributed to maintaining poverty rates in several provinces with extreme poverty levels. Unfortunately, often the largest segment of the voting population supporting candidates from dynastic politics also come from the poor.
Even more dangerous, dynastic politics has the potential to perpetuate a corrupt government. Ashikur Rahman (2013) in his dissertation at the London School of Economics found that countries with strong dynastic political regimes are more corrupt on average than those that do not practice dynastic politics. For example, two cases are currently being handled by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) which brought in the former Bangkalan Regent Fuad Amin and the former Tanah Laut Regent Ardiansyah. Apart from having a similarity because their corruption targets natural resources (natural gas and coal), both of them use their strong grip of influence and relationship with the head of the incumbent region who is none other than their own biological child.
Currently there is Law number 23/2014 on Regional Government which returns the authority of a number of natural resource permits such as forestry, mining and marine affairs from regencies to provinces. However, the potential for corrupt practices in the industrial sector that focuses on natural resources (mining, oil and gas, forestry, fisheries, and others) is still wide open if political clans are allowed to spread their wings at various agencies and levels of government.
The findings of coordination and supervision carried out by the Corruption Eradication Commission in collaboration with the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources during the 2014-2015 period, found the chaotic governance of mineral and coal mining. The poor governance of mineral and coal, which has cost the state up to tens of trillions, is inseparable from the bad governance by regional heads. Common practices range from the issuance of uncontrolled mining business permits, overlapping permits, granting permits in conservation areas, environmental damage due to the lack of supervision of mining operations, non-compliance with payment obligations by industries that are detrimental to the state, to managing unprocessed natural resources. effective in reducing poverty, especially those affected and living around the mining industry.
This would make way for dynastic politics excuses and allows the generation of low-quality local government to continue its depravity. Worse, this dynasty’s politics seemed to roll out a red carpet for regional heads by building strongholds of power to perpetuate bad practices in natural resource management. Instead of correcting the bad practices of their predecessors, strong kinship has the potential to make regional heads try to cover up the mistakes of their predecessors, and even strengthen the grip of their dynasty.
Learning from experiences in Bangkalan, Tanah Laut, as well as cases involving regional heads who continue to adorn the media, it is important to anticipate the politics of this dynasty from an early age. Prevention efforts should be strengthened, of course, also accompanied by maximizing the role of law enforcers and public supervision.
We are of course obliged to respect the Court’s decision. We also have the right to respect the constitutional right of every citizen to be involved in government, regardless of their family background. However, it cannot be denied that this decision is an alert warning for all components of society who long for a clean and trustworthy government. We must not forget the bitter experience of the rampant practice of dynastic political deviation which is counterproductive to the spirit of building a clean and anti-corruption government.
Agung Budiono is a researcher for Publish What You Pay Indonesia, a civil society coalition organization for transparency and accountability in the extractive sector.