Restriction of Political Party Coalition to Prevent Single Candidates

in Regional Head Election

Ahmad Siboy

, Moh. Fadli

and Airin Liemanto

Faculty of Law University of Brawijaya, Malang, Indonesia

Keywords: Personal Data Economy, Legal Interpretation, Legal Framework, Indonesia

Abstract: The pattern of political party coalition in proposing candidates for regional head tends to be based on

momentary interest, thus generating many single candidates in various regions. The phenomenon of single

candidate has neglected people's rights to have the choice of more than one pair of candidates considering

that Regional Head Election or Pilkada is the implementation of people's sovereignty to choose the one that

deserves to be the regional head. This study aims to analyze the coalition pattern of Political Parties and find

the formula of restriction of political party coalition to prevent the emergence of single candidate. The

research result shows that the coalition pattern of political parties in regional head election is not based on

the vision and mission of political parties and people interests, and thus people are disadvantaged as they

lose their right to have a choice of candidates in the regional head election. To prevent the recurrence of a

single candidate in the regional head election, it can be done by restricting political party coalition through

various means such as limiting the number of political party coalitions or restriction through ownership of

seats in the Regional People’s Representative Council (DPRD). Limiting coalition will serve as an

appropriate solution to avoid any potential of single candidate and it gives resolution to disputes in Regional

Head Election in accordance with the provision of legislation. There will always be only one candidate pair,

which certainly leads to who could represent the empty box to submit a case and or who could be charged

by a candidate pair as defeated due to the empty box. Furthermore, the absence of political party with only

single candidate pair also prevents from the absence of authority at regional level as there is no victory

obtained in empty box.

1 INTRODUCTION

One form of local democratic manifestation is the

process of changing the local leader's that runs

democratically. The democratic process of changing

the local leaders can be mapped out by the period of

elections and the principles of regional head

election, whether in the level of province or

regency/municipality. The election period here is

how the process of changing the regional head is

strictly regulated in terms of how long a regional

head serves and when he must terminate his term of

office. Meanwhile, the principles of regional head

election are the principles of election that are

generally applicable, namely the principles of direct,

public, free, honest and fair (Jazim Hamidi and

Lutfi, 2010).

The parameters of whether a general election or a

regional head election is democratic are determined

by two things, namely electoral laws and electoral

process (Rae, 1971). Therefore, the regulation and

the practice of regional head election must be in

accordance with the purpose of election with the

orientation to become the media for the

implementation of people's sovereignty and to elect

a leader as desired by people. Thus, people should

be presented with the practice of good organization

and there should be a list of candidates chosen

according to the expectation of people, not just one

pair of candidates.

2 METHOD

This study aims to analyze the coalition pattern of

Political Parties and find the formula of restriction of

political party coalition to prevent the emergence of

single candidate.

1098

Siboy, A., Fadl, M. and Liemanto, A.

Restriction of Political Party Coalition to Prevent Single Candidates in Regional Head Election.

DOI: 10.5220/0009923310981103

In Proceedings of the 1st International Conference on Recent Innovations (ICRI 2018), pages 1098-1103

ISBN: 978-989-758-458-9

3 FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

Regional head election can be held directly and

indirectly. Direct election of regional head is an

election in which people directly elect their regional

head. Meanwhile, indirect election of regional head

is the election of regional head whose election is

represented by the Regional People’s Representative

Council (DPRD). The form of election which can be

done directly or indirectly is not a parameter for an

election to be declared democratic. The Constitution

does not explicitly define the form of direct or

indirect election. Article 18 paragraph (4) of the

1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia uses

the words ‘elected democratically’. According to

Jimly Asshiddiqie, ‘elected democratically’ is a

choice of words that has a flexible meaning.

“Elected democratically has a flexible meaning so

that in subsequent arrangement they can be elected

directly or by the DPRD as in the previous practice.

The election of the members of DPRD is different as

it is explicitly affirmed that the members are elected

through general election. This arrangement

institutionalizes the way DPRD members are chosen

in the constitution, but more importantly, it also

asserts that DPRD members are not selected through

appointment as in the previous practice”

(Asshidiqqie, 2007).

The meaning of the word ‘democratic’ also

cannot be interpreted that the regional head does not

have to be chosen directly because the position of

regional head is a position in a region for the

representatives of the central government. This

means that a regional head may not be elected

through general election but may be appointed by

the government. For example, regional head in

provincial level is appointed by the President and

regional head in the level of regency/municipality is

appointed by the Governor. The arrangement of the

appointment mechanism is regulated in Law number

22 of 1948 on Regional Government.

At the same time, even if a regional head is not

appointed by a government official from the upper

position, the election of regional head may still be

administered indirectly where the regional head may

be elected by the Regional People’s Representative

Council (DPRD). The election of regional head is

regarded as a democratic regional head election

considering that DPRD members are directly elected

by people in the relevant area; therefore, DPRD

members are considered to have represented all the

will of political choice in an area. Through this

logic, it is then translated that when regional head is

elected by the DPRD, the election of regional head

is a democratic election process.

On a different side, the election of regional head

is translated as direct election. This argument is born

because, Firstly; the word ‘elected democratically’

in Article 18 paragraph (4) of the 1945 Constitution

of the Republic of Indonesia should be interpreted as

direct democracy or direct election. Since the

members of DPRD as legislatives at regional level

are directly elected, the executives (regional heads)

must also be elected directly. Second; The election

of regional head which is carried out directly is

considered important in order that there are not two

models of government in terms of election. When

the election of regional heads is not held directly, the

system of election or governance in Indonesia will

be seen different, meaning that the presidential/vice

presidential election system and members of House

of Representatives (hereinafter DPR) at the central

government is held directly, while the election for

regional heads and legislative members at regional

levels is held not in direct system. In other words,

the elections at central government and at regional

level follow two different systems. Third; regional

head election must be done directly because people

must be involved in the aspect of leadership. People

have to give their approval, and in this case people's

consensus on who will become the leader can only

be obtained through direct election of regional head.

According to Ibnu Tri Cahyo, regional head election

is preferred to be carried out directly considering the

spirit of formulation of Article 18 of the 1945

Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia in PAH

(Ad hoc Committee) session of the People's

Consultative Assembly Year 2000 is direct election.

Factions in the MPR namely PDIP, Golkar, PPP

and Daulah Ummah interpret democratic as direct

election (Tricahyo, 2009).

Fourth; Direct election of regional head will

break the chain of buying and selling votes of DPRD

members. When regional heads are elected by

DPRD, vote transaction between regional head

candidates and DPRD members becomes common.

Election of regional heads by the DPRD members

will give more ease in terms of predicting fund

needed to bribe the members of DPRD. Unlike in

this indirect election, obtaining financial plan for

bribery is not possible in direct election of regional

heads simply because the votes sporadically spread

and counting the votes before the election is

impossible to perform. Fifth; Direct election of

regional head will also close the opportunity for

independent candidates to participate in regional

head election. Since independent candidates face

Restriction of Political Party Coalition to Prevent Single Candidates in Regional Head Election

1099

difficulty obtaining recommendation from a political

party, the political party will be more reluctant to

support candidate pairs from non-cadre. In direct

election, political parties consider candidates from

important non-cadre with high electability, recalling

that direct election gives space for competition

among regional head candidates not from cadres or

political parties. The competition gives access to

non-cadre candidates to a chance of becoming

candidates of regional heads and vice regional heads

as in governor election in Jakarta, in which Anies

Baswedan is a figure not coming from a political

party.

In the history of regional head election in

Indonesia, the position of head experienced several

different forms or models. Some of these forms can

be seen in Table 1 below:

Table I. Dynamics of the Form of Regional Head Election

(Sirajuddin, 2016)

No Period System of Regional

Head Election

Legal Basis

1 Period of

appointme

The appointment of

the governor shall be

done by the

president on the

nomination of

several candidates by

the DPRD of the

province, while

regent or mayor shall

be appointed by the

Minister of Home

Affairs through the

nomination of DPRD

of regency/

municipality

Law No. 1 of

1945

Law No. 42 of

1948

Law No. 1 of

1957

Law No. 18 of

1965

Law No. 5 of

1974

2 Period of

Representa

tive

appointme

Election of governor/

regent/ mayor

through election by

DPRD of province/

regency/

municipality

Law No. 22 of

1999

3 Period of

Direct

Election

Direct election of

governor/regent/may

or by the citizens

Law No. 32 of

2004

Law No. 1 of

2015

Law No. 8 of

2015

The regime of regional head election applicable

in Indonesia (ius contituentum) is direct election of

regional head where people directly elect the pair of

candidates in regional head election. The pairs of

candidates for the regional head election are the

pairs that have been determined by the Regional

General Elections Commission (KPUD) because

they have been assessed and verified to qualify as

pairs of candidates for regional head election in a

certain area. The pair of candidates for regional head

and vice regional head may come from political

party or individual. Although there are two paths to

become pairs of candidates, but the path of political

party is more dominant in terms of nomination and

winning in simultaneous regional head election.

The two paths to be a pair of candidates for the

election do not work effectively in presenting more

number of candidates of regional head. In 2015

regional head election and in 2017 election there

was the fact that single candidates were found in

some areas(Prayudi, 2018), whereas single candidate

is something that is not in accordance with the

expectation of direct election. Logically, in direct

election people should be given the choice of

candidates to be elected as leader. Meanwhile, if

there is only a single candidate, it is like following a

referendum because people are only asked for

approval or rejection on the pair of candidates.

The half-referendum model due to single

candidate certainly makes the process of democracy

in the region run ineffectively and inefficiently. If it

turns out that more people do not agree with that

pair of candidates, then the election will be repeated

in the next round, so it requires another process and

financing. In the waiting of the process of the next

Pilkada in regional areas won by an empty box such

as the Pilkada held in Makassar, the executor of the

Regional Head election will be appointed. At the

same time, an election with a single candidate will

complicate the judicial process in the event of a

dispute. For example, in dispute over the result of

regional head election, those having legal standing

to file a case are the candidates who feel

disadvantaged. This will not be fulfilled in an

election followed by a single candidate since there is

no other pair of candidates having the legal standing

to file a dispute over the election result to the

Constitutional Court. On the other hand, when an

empty box gains the most votes, the losing candidate

pairs will have difficulty tracking the infringement

done by the empty box recalling that it is difficult to

provide evidence for this case. It is because the

supporters of empty box are not from official

campaign teams.

There are at least some arguments that can be put

forward to describe why single candidate occurs.

Firstly, regional head election is still described as the

battle of political elite so that citizens who do not

belong to the political elite become passive and do

not pay attention to the dynamics of regional head

nomination. This assumption is certainly a natural

thing because in the election, the political elites at

both national and local levels play a significant role.

For example, in the regional head election of DKI

Jakarta in 2017, behind the emergence of three pairs

of candidates for regional head, it involved

ICRI 2018 - International Conference Recent Innovation

1100

communication and political activity of national

politicians such as former president and former

presidential candidate. This condition leads the

citizens of non-elite political group or those inactive

in political activities to difficulties obtaining

recommendation from political parties for the sake

of becoming regional head candidates.

Secondly, there is a stigma that the takeover of

position of candidate for regional head and vice

regional head is only for rich businessmen or those

having adequate capital. Admittedly, considerable

funds are required in regional head election,

therefore, people who can become the candidates for

regional head and vice regional head are the ones

who have the capital in order to finance the political

costs during the process of election. The emergence

of the term political dowry from some people who

fail in the candidacy for regional head certainly

confirms that in order to become a candidate of

regional head, it can only be reached by people who

can afford to pay political dowry. Finance is another

impeding factor for particular citizens to propose

regional head candidacy despite the fact that the

citizens have popularity and high electability.

Third, the process of determining the pair of

candidates of regional head that will be supported by

political party depends only on people who have

popularity or people who are public figure. This

certainly makes citizens who do not have popularity

will not feel confident to run for candidate of

regional head despite having the competence to

become a candidate of regional head. Fourth;

political parties as institutions that can nominate

candidates for regional head and vice regional head

do not have definite parameters in nominating

candidates of regional head and vice regional head.

Political parties do not have a definite mechanism in

determining the requirements of who will be

nominated as the pair of candidates for regional head

and vice regional head. As the evidence, it can be

seen from several political parties which nominated

an unpredictable pair of candidates in simultaneous

elections in 2015 and 2017, i.e. candidates that did

not have a relationship or not a cadre of the party,

and even figures who were in a different position

with the political party. Although it is true that in

Pilkada in Jakarta in 2017 Anies Baswedan was

recommended by Gerindra and Keadilan Sejahtera

Party, he was not from the two parties. Moreover, in

presidential election in 2014, Anies Baswedan

supported Joko Widodo, an opposition of

presidential and vice-presidential candidate

proposed by Gerindra and Keadilan Sejahtera Party.

Fifth, there are no rules in the pattern of political

party coalition in choosing the pair of candidates for

regional head. This makes the configuration of

political party coalition in each region different even

though the institution of political parties is national.

In area A, a political party can form a coalition with

party X, and in another area the party can form a

coalition with party Y. In this coalition the ideology

of their political party is not the foundation. Here,

power sharing is more prioritized. From the factors

of the emergence of single candidate above, it can be

concluded that the emergence of single candidate is

more based on the behavioral pattern of political

parties in determining the pair of candidates for

regional head and vice regional head to be

nominated as participants of election. Political party

coalition is not based on ideological similarity and

vision and mission between the coalition partners.

Thus, it results in the emergence of single candidate

which must be prevented in order to create a

democratic election process where people are not

only forced to choose one pair of candidates. People

have the right to have a choice of candidates.

One attempt to prevent the emergence of single

candidate is through the restriction of political party

coalition in proposing candidates of regional head.

This option becomes one of the offers because by

restricting political party coalition, the parties cannot

be in one coalition group since the number of

political parties that can join in one coalition is

limited. Therefore, political parties that do not join

in a coalition must nominate another pair of

candidates. With the restriction on the number of

political party coalition, there is bigger potential that

the coalition pattern and the pair of candidates to be

nominated by political parties will be based on the

similarity of platform rather than on political

pragmatism.

However, the option to limit the number of

political parties in nominating candidates for

regional head and vice regional head will be faced

with some challenges. It would be very difficult for

the political parties to accept such restrictions

because they feel that it is the right and freedom of

every party to form coalition with any party and in

whatever number, and it cannot be restricted.

However, this argument may be contradicted with

the provisions of article 28J of the 1945 Constitution

of the Republic of Indonesia that restriction on the

rights of a person may be made as long as it is

justified by law. Moreover, limiting coalition of

political parties could make use the main functions

of political parties.

Restriction of Political Party Coalition to Prevent Single Candidates in Regional Head Election

1101

Some options that can be applied to limit the

number of coalitions of political parties are by: First,

for a political party that meets the threshold of the

vote to nominate candidates for regional head or

vice regional head without joining with other parties,

that party is prohibited to form coalition with other

parties because it has sufficient number of seats in

the Regional People’s Representative Council or

DPRD to nominate a pair of candidates. This

mechanism is easily realised because there are

several political parties that meet requirement of

candidate pair for regional head and vice regional

head election in some regional areas to obtain

minimum number of seats available in DPRD to

propose candidate pairs for regional head and the

vice election without any chance of coalition with

another party such as Demokrasi Indonesia

Perjuangan Party (PDI-P) in West Java and Central

Java in which no coalition was needed.

Second, political parties that do not fulfill the

minimal number of seats in DPRD can cooperate

with other parties to meet the requirements to be

able to nominate candidates for regional head and

vice regional head. However, the number of

coalition must also be proportionally limited or may

not consist of all political parties that have seats in

DPRD. It means that coalition can be held to obtain

minimum requirement of combined seats for

political parties in regional areas to propose regional

head and vice regional head candidate pairs.

Third, the restriction of political party coalition

can also be passed by the sorting of political parties

based on the ideology of each party. However,

coalition restriction through the ideology of political

parties is difficult to realize. This cannot be

separated from the ideology of each political party

that can be difficult to distinguish. Moreover,

dealing with the moment of regional head election,

the ideology of the political parties seem to have no

difference because the ideology is defined with

momentary interests or is merely adjusted with

election. In addition, the restriction of political party

coalition through ideology has the potential to bring

the issue of tribe, religion, race, and interreligious

groups (SARA), for example the grouping of political

parties having the ideology of Islam and nationalist.

This will push religious issues into commodities that

can break unity among the voters.

4 CONCLUSION

Regional head election is one of the transitional

processes of people sovereignty to those who will

represent them in leading the government. In this

process people should be presented or given the

choice of candidates to choose from. However, the

organization of regional election in several areas is

only followed by one pair of candidates, and thus

people have no other choice of candidates to be

elected as regional head. The fact of single candidate

in regional head election is caused by the coalition

pattern of the political parties that form coalition

only for the sake of political or financial interest, not

to present a pair of candidates as desired by people.

Consequently, people feel that their rights as the

sovereign holders are violated. Hence, single

candidate in regional head election (Pilkada) should

be prevented or should not be repeated. Prevention

can only be done through restriction of political

party coalition. Such restrictive mechanism can be

performed through restriction of political party

coalition based on the maximum number of joint

parties that nominate the pair of candidates of

regional head or based on the minimum requirement

of seat ownership in the Regional People’s

Representative Council (DPRD).

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