MORE WASHINGTON, LESS JAKARTA

IGNORING AN ELECTION NEXT DOOR          

‘The World’ is a nightly news show on Australia Plus, our overseas TV showcase transmitted to 44 countries in Asia and the Pacific .  The one-hour programme pulls together the day’s global issues, often adding lengthy interviews dissecting international developments.

On 27 June the prime set-piece story in Southeast Asia was Indonesia’s first simultaneous regional elections called Pilkada; about 150 million voters got the chance to pick 171 governors, regents and mayors. It was ignored by ‘The World’.then and the following night.

Psephologists labeled Pilkada’s results a bellwether for next year’s presidential election. This is likely to be a rematch between the moderate civilian incumbent Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo, 57, and tough guy Prabowo Subianto, 66.  He’s a retired general, alleged human rights abuser and relic from last century when his dictator father-in-law Soeharto ruled for 32 years. 

Alarmists worried about an eruption of racial and religious hate during the poll, especially after East Java church bombings the previous month. 

Instead all ran peacefully with early results showing the electorate is getting smarter and Indonesia’s teenage democracy taking a firmer grip.  

Indonesian politics are so knotty they make unraveling Australian Senate tangles as easy as tying a clove hitch.  Candidates move around parties like diplomats at Christmas, bemusing Indonesian electors and befogging outsiders.

When The Jakarta Post frontpaged Wednesday’s results Jokowi gains, PDI-P loses it was like saying ‘Turnbull backers won, Liberal candidates lost’.  

The Partai Demokrasi Indonesia Perjuangan (Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle) is Jokowi’s party, but the real leader is Megawati Soekarnoputri, 71, daughter of founding president Soekarno and herself a former president. She really wants her daughter Puan Maharani in the Palace.

These difficulties should not have stopped The World recruiting an academic expert from Indonesia or Australia to explain the importance of Pilkada and interpret results. Much of Indonesia’s media is owned by political partisans, so factual news and impartial analysis from outside the Republic is critical for locals and foreigners.

Overall the Komisi Pemilihan Umum  (KPU - General Elections Commission) appears to have done well, opening booths from 7 am to I pm in thousands of locations - often closing streets to traffic for easy pedestrian access. Making the day a national holiday helped boost participation as voting is not compulsory. 

Electors chose by punching a hole in the voting slip; officials at the counts held up punctured papers to show scrutineers that all is open. There were a few reports of funny business, but nothing serious. 

Candidates have been plastering the country with banners and posters. Policies seldom featured, just touched-up portraits of hopefuls in regional or religious dress, and the same cliche slogans we get in the West. Officials ripped down all signs before the vote,

Figures are still being tallied. The official result will be announced on 9 July

While Australians are familiar with the names of many American and European politicians who feature regularly in the media, they know little of Indonesian public figures.  One candidate who could be heading for international notice is former Bandung (West Java) mayor Ridwan Kamil, 46, a cosmopolitan US-educated architect with a can-do reputation.  He’s leading in the West Java Governorship and is tipped as a future presidential candidate.

Indonesia ranks 96 on Transparency International’s corruption perception index; clean NZ tops the 180 nations measured, while Australia is number 13. Politicians are among the worst offenders.  In East Java, Malang mayor Mochamad Anton campaigned for re-election from prison where he’s being held on charges of allegedly plundering contractors’ budgets.  He lost.

Politics in the world’s third largest democracy is big business, according to Indonesian academic Muhammad Beni Saputra. In The Diplomat he wrote:

‘To become a village head it costs 130-150 million rupiahs; becoming a member of the People’s  Representative Council (DPR) costs 1.18 to 4.6 billion rupiahs, a mayor is from 20-30 billion  rupiahs, a regent is 75 billion rupiahs, a governor ranges from 100 to 400 billion rupiahs, and  president costs up to 7 trillion rupiahs!’  

(One Australian dollar buys just over Rp 10,000. The average income is under Rp 50 million a year.)

Apart from rallies and advertising costs, much is alleged to go on goodies for fans, though the increasingly effective Komisi Pemberantasan Korupsi (KPK - Anti-Corruption Commission) has been cracking down on handouts and kickbacks. Unlike previous campaigns T-shirts featuring candidates’ mug shots have been hard to find.

The next biggie will be the 17 April 2019 general election for the DPR and president. Unlike Australia, voters get to select the pres for a five-year stint - two terms maximum. 

In the past scores of parties mushroomed causing chaos; now only those with at least 20 per cent of seats in the legislature, or 25 per cent of votes at the 2014 election, can field candidates. Coalitions are allowed to help make up the numbers, which leads to some strange pairings

Maybe then Australia Plus (soon to be rebadged as ABC Australia) will take what’s happening next door seriously.

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First published in Pearls and Irritations, 30 June 2018
http://johnmenadue.com/duncan-graham-our-failing-media-again-ignoring-an-election-next-door

CHARGES NO DETERRENT FOR CANDIDATE

A picture tells a thousand lies 

Indonesians will go the polls on Wednesday 27 June to elect their local government represenatives.  The process is called Pilkada  (Pemilihan Kepala Daerah) 

This big beamer on the front page of the Jawa Pos is the mayor of Malang, H Mochamad Anton. If you don’t understand the headlines you might assume his abundant joy shows he’s won either another five-year term in office or a lottery, which in Indonesia can be much the same.


The reality is strikingly different: Anton, leader of the central East Java city and the second largest in the province, had just been charged with bribery by the Komisi Pemberantasan Korupsi (Anti-Corruption Commission - KPK). His orange vest is the fashion statement for those under arrest.

It’s alleged he paid other public reps to pass the 2015 budget.


Eighteen Malang city councilors - that’s 40 per cent of the total - have also been named as suspects in the scandal. They include Anton’s main rival in the upcoming elections, Ya’qud Ananda Gudban from the Hanura Party.


Hanura’s full title is Hati Nurani Rakyat, which loosely and ironically translates as the People’s Conscience Party. Anton’s backer is the Islamic Partai Kebangkitan Bangsa – the National Awakening Party.


\Opinion polls rate the KPK as the most trusted authority in the nation with a 100 per cent conviction rate; its bag has included regional governors, scores of lesser officials and even national government ministers like Dahlan Iskan.


In 2017 the former CEO of the Jawa Pos media conglomerate was sentenced to two years jail for selling East Java Government assets while Minister for State-Owned Enterprises.

Anton must be concerned he’ll be treated like former Bandung mayor Dada Rosada; in 2014 the West Java leader was handed a ten year term for bribing judges to acquit city officials caught stealing millions in social aid funds.


Further proof of the KPK’s effectiveness has been fang-pulling attempts by politicians who want oversight of the Commission’s activities and their own nominees in key positions.


More brutal has been an acid assault outside a Jakarta mosque. The target was investigator Novel Baswedan who is now partly blind. The police, who have no love for the KPK, say they are still seeking the attackers who struck a year ago.


The H in Malang Mayor Anton’s title stands for Haji, meaning he’s a pious fellow who has made the pilgrimage to Mecca.

He’s also rich; according to data declared to the KPK his personal wealth is more than Rp 113 billion - around 11 million Australian dollars. His two main rivals report they have Rp 6 billion and Rp 2 billion.

Perhaps Anton is grinning because he reckons he can squeeze out of jail by claiming it’s a political stitch-up. Or maybe he thinks his candidature in this year’s Pilkada (election of regional heads) will stay put for the 27 June vote.


Two weeks after Anton’s arrest giant billboards and banners were still on Malang streets promoting his values. His slogan is apik, which in Javanese means ‘good and clean’ – a lie because the city has a major waste disposal problem while traffic congestions worsens by the week. Citizens still toss their rubbish into the Brantas and its tributaries, or any empty lot. Rodents squeak their joy.


Anton has twisted apik into an acronym standing for agamis (religious), progresif, inklusif and kreatif. Like political motherhood slogans everywhere, they are vague enough for electors to accept as shared values. Policies? Too boring to bother.


Campaign photos usually have men wearing the peci, the traditional rimless black Javanese cap, women the full jilbab or penutup kepala, a shawl which partly covers the hair. This is supposed to prove they are devout, though not extreme, so safe for the non-Muslim vote.


To prove they are just everyday folk some male contenders go bareheaded and don casual gear. They add honorifics of endearment like Mas (similar to bro or mate) and Abah (Arabic for father). Academic qualifications, whether earned or bought, are another essential tag.


For those who claim to be real sons of the soil, the weird Malang trend of writing words backwards is supposed to prove local authenticity. So one hopeful has dubbed himself Sam, Mas in reverse.

Because the big TV networks are Jakarta-based, regional candidates rarely use national TV. Local stations are seldom watched so contestants rely on banners and rallies.


Students of cultural differences might contrast Anton’s Jawa Pos pic with those in the Australian press of wet-eyed former Test cricketer Dave Warner. These showed a portrait of shame though there’s no risk the cricket cheat will end up behind bars.


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