Father Terong: Of course! I chose you myself!
Mother: And I myself chose your father as a husband. I'm not Sitti Nurbaya (referring to the novel Sitti Nurbaya: Unrealised Love by Marah Rusli about forced marriages).
Daughter: How come you're sad, depressed Terong?
Son: In the future... we'll have to submit to our fate, our partner being chosen by our parents...
The Coalition for the Codification of Election Laws has rejected the idea put forward by Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto on a return the election of regional heads (Pilkada) through the Regional Representative Councils (DPRD).
The Coalition said that the pretext of high political costs incurred in direct regional elections as cited by Prabowo is not the main issue, but that the real problem is one of election governance which has not been seriously reformed.
According to the Coalition, the high political costs are not due to the direct regional election mechanism but rather due to uncontrolled campaign costs – including practices of money politics such as buying and selling votes and the buying and selling candidacy seats.
Quoting from research by Muhtadi (2018), the Coalition said that around 25-33 percent of voters in the 2014 elections were exposed to money politics and that this figure very likely increased in the 2024 regional elections. The coalition said that money politics takes place on a massive scale in all electoral arenas in Indonesia, including regional elections.
Another factor that makes political costs even more expensive is the high cost of nominations, namely all the costs that must be incurred by prospective candidates from the early stages. This includes consolidating political support early on ranging from political dowries (money to become candidates) paid to the political parties, financing electability surveys to spending on communications and political networks.
In the Coalition's view, solving these issues by eliminating direct regional elections is wrong and does not address the root cause of the problem. If this logic is used consistently, said the Coalition, then other elections could potentially be abolished simply because of the widespread practice of money politics.
Speaking at the Golkar Party's 61st anniversary event at the Senayan Sports Arena late last year, President Prabowo admitted that he was considering an idea mooted by Golkar Party General Chairperson Bahlil Lahadalia on regional elections through the DPRD.
"If you've already elected the regency DPRD, provincial DPRD, then why not just immediately choose the governor and regent? Done", said Prabowo. "This is done in Malaysia, it's done in India, it's done by many countries. The UK, Canada, and Australia, the richest countries in the world use low-cost political systems", he asserted.
[Based on an Indoleft translation of a CNN article on December 8, 2025 titled Prabowo's proposal for closed regional elections wrong: Coalition.]
