Prabowo’s Plan: Appointed vs. Elected Local Leaders?

Indonesia’s president is considering ending direct elections for regional leaders as the country faces budgetary pressures and a growing deficit. Experts warn that such a move would be a setback for democracy and may not reduce corruption.

Indonesia Considers Ending Direct Regional Elections

As of November, Indonesia’s 2025 deficit had already reached 560 trillion rupiah, or 2.35 per cent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP). Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa stated he could not guarantee the 2025 budget deficit would remain within the 2.78 per cent of GDP stipulated in the budget blueprint.

Lawmakers are scheduled to begin discussions next year regarding revisions to election rules, following a Constitutional Court ruling in June 2025. The ruling calls for national and regional parliamentary elections to be held separately beginning in 2029. A House committee is expected to be formed in January to draft the election bill, according to Arse Sadikin Zulfikar, deputy chairman of House Commission II.

Experts argue that the benefits of direct elections for regional leaders outweigh the costs. “Democracy should not be compromised for financial reasons,” said Hendri Satrio, a political expert from Jakarta’s Paramadina University.

Indonesia began transitioning to direct elections after the fall of Suharto, holding its first direct presidential election in 2004 and its first direct regional election in 2005 in East Kalimantan’s Kutai Kertanegara regency.

Researchers at the Association of Elections and Democracy (Perludem) dismissed the idea that direct elections breed corruption. “High costs come from ‘dark’ political financing, not from the implementation of direct elections,” said a researcher who goes by one name, Haykal. He argued that parties should be held accountable for bribery and vote-buying, and should vet candidates more carefully.

Returning to a system of appointing local leaders through regional legislatures would create a more opaque process prone to corruption, Haykal added. “As long as the political character of the parties remains the same, changing the system will only shift the ‘dark’ political costs to the DPRD.”

Titi Anggraini, an election law expert from University of Indonesia, stated that the government should focus on improving the quality and integrity of regional elections by monitoring campaign funds and enforcing the law. “Scrapping direct elections is not the solution,” she said.