Beyond The Jakarta District Election: Measures of Indonesian Local Political Leaders in KontraS Version

Beyond The Jakarta District Election
Measures of Indonesian Local Political Leaders in KontraS Version

 

In the upcoming District Election (Pilkada) that will be held simultaneously on February 15, 2017 and overtaking the other districts, the Commission for the Dissapeared and Victims of Violence (KontraS) will publish several important measures to be concern as an active contribution of KontraS on supporting the public to measure the standards of local political leaders. These measures could not be presented without the support of numerous local organization that already spare their time to give the latest updates regarding the accomplishment of political party simoultaneous District Election in Indonesia. Therefore, KontraS organizationally appreciate all the cooperation and thankful to the local organizations.

District Election is a moment to remake the local figures with the political platform that could be implemented and widening the community participation spaces. Nevertheless, today the energy and concertation seemed monopolized by the Jakarta situation: the battle between 3 partner candidates that competing, with several local political spices that typically urban that seems to dominating the national political situation in Indonesia.

Whereas, if want to be more sensitive there are a lot of local political characteristic that feasible to be consider. Evenmore, in several level, we should really consider the political situation in several districts in Indonesia. Recalling the political characteristic that influenced the lived of many people and also politics have a strong relation with the quality of human rights mainstreaming in Indonesia.

 

Not less than these recent 20 days, we attempt to create several measures that could be seen below. This measures came from the information that collected in the 15 parts (province, regency/city) which are Aceh, Banten, Gorontalo, Jepara, Pati, Payakumbuh, Jayapura, Pekanbaru, Buleleng, Buol, North Kolaka, Banggai Islands, Bombana, Takalar and Mesuji. We involved several local partners that works in the grassroots, media and assisted groups.

  1. Strengthening the democratic institution capacity
    There should be expansion of information in several matters that will be develop, regenerate and improved from the management of a district by the partner candidates. This information is important to concerning on how is the strategy of the partner candidates to be fulfilling the basic and collective rights of the community. Meanwhile, we also recognized that there are a lot of candidates that fully supported by the strength of political parties machine, however we still could have infotmation regarding the future plan of ideas between districts in Indonesia.
    To strengthening the democratic institution capacity; the partner candidates are expected to be at least showing several messages such as: (1) political participation, (2) political representative, (3) the process of decision making, (4) human rights agenda that will be strengthen in one district – including the attempt to protect the vulnerable groups amongst several cluster of social-economic-politics-expression.
    In KontraS findings, the measures above still far drom the partner candidates programs that could followed thoroughly by the citizen. In Pati Regency, for example – we heard that not many information could be followed by the citizen. The rumors tend to be strengthened related with the political monopoly and the candidate fund. The lack of information and socialization also strengthened in Jayapura. Although the expectation is high to get the infrastructure sustainability, but because of the Election Commission (KPU) that not actively giving socialization of the district election process, this political succession could not be socialized towards the people. Moreover, several human rights violation cases – related with the context of indigenous people, such as land grabbing, infrastructure improvements followed by the improvements of human resources- are a basic matters that missed to be consider.
    Nonetheless, we also consider with the involvement that really wide but not measurable of several securitization along in the district election processes by the Election Commission (KPU) that involving National Military Forces and National Police apparatuses structures, as occurred in Buol Regency. The models of cooperations to give security service also should be implement transparently, thus there will be build such intimidating sentiment towards the community. If the trauma and other possibilities while the strength of state security attempted for the coorporates and political interests, as occurred in Buol.
    We also consider the open public debate is a new matter, however it never started from the districts. If this matter could be implemented, then the disputes as occurred in Gorontalo Regency, Pekanbaru and Boulemo – including the violations occurred against the journalists – could be avoided. Why? Because there are a political expression spaces that could be followed by the public, there is an education and political ethics that could be presented with presence of mind.
  2. Improvement of Public Service Quality
    The public services in this matter is the easiest to be mobilized. The public services closely related with the lived of many people. There is more and more political figures considering the public services then it possibly will gets better, but what is the requirements? KontraS using the human rights principle, known as ‘progressive realization’ where the collective policy that arranged and planned should be progressively implemented. The public services really related with the development access: such as education service, adequate housing, foods and water, social services. Presenting a proper public services also should bring the participation spirit, non-discrimination/equality, protection and also accountability (whether the policy not violating the law, answerable, and prioritizing the common progress).
    There is an optimism that the upcoming district election will bring some changes, particularly in the sector of public services quality improvement. The local leaders seems to be refer to the working method of Joko Widodo. Nevertheless, the potention of misappropriation or lack of implementation still open widely. The Buol Regency still have an issue regarding the strength of coorporated actors that seems to be control the public policy. In Banggai Islands there are some willingness from the candidates to improve the quality of infrastructures. Meanwhile, in this regency there are also a lot of issues such as illegal fishing, corruption, land grabbing that slightly get a priority to be addressed, thus the quality of public services could be improved.
    There are also several candidates that attempted to be simplified the quality of public services with giving instant solution and not stand towards the people, including in referring the national development program such as card version and access. Such as Bombana Regency, the incumbent candidate combining the concept of Direct Cash Assistant (BLT) with the card that provides towards the citizen.
  3. Law Enforcement and Access to Justice
    The decent leader figure that have a priority on the law enforcement and access to justice sides towards everyone. Lots of us seen the law practices that diverge to the issue of intolerance, coorporate crimes, apparatus crimes that silenced even erased in the process. The district leader have an agenda of law and justice, at least to be aware in several issues such as: (1) protection of civil rights and implementation guarantee of economic, social and cultural rights, (2) policy and legislation products that pro-accountability, (3) transparency and non-corruption, (4) sense of security from the individuals. Several situations that should be consider in Banten Province, Mesuji, Payakumbuh and Aceh (simultaneous local district election), Buol, Takalar really interesting to be consider.
    The issue of law enforcement vulnerably to be eliminated with the strengthen of the classic imaging position and populist as recently occurred Jakarta Capital City. Each of the district mentioned above have their own complexities in resolving the violations issue and security actor characteristics (Aceh), political champion practice (Banten), law violations (Payakumbuh), and business practices that could control the local political dynamics and security (Mesuji, Buol, Takalar).

District government is the pioneer to mainstreaming and protecting human rights. Realization from the international human rights instruments will be very measurable from the capability of the district governments to improve the policy in the local level that innovative and effective but could also give a certainty towards the citizen to be involved in every process of policy by consent, equal and also presenting the citizen to be empower to access the education, economy and socio-political expresssion also the other fundamental rights. The implementation of 2017 District Election, KontraS strongly encourage the media could present the strategic role to deliver the news proportionally, to support the needs of balanced information amongst the community.

Once again, district election is not a democracy party in the big cities, particularly what already occurred in Jakarta. Let’s celebrate this political succession with choosing a decent figure that could be responsible for the public needs.

 

 

Jakarta, January 23, 2017

KontraS Workers,

 

Haris Azhar, MA

Executive Coordinator