Fika Nurul Ulya, Dani Prabowo, Jakarta – President Prabowo Subianto has said that Indonesia must have a democratic and political system that suits the country. This is because the democracy followed by Western countries is not necessarily suitable for implementation in Indonesia.
Prabowo made this statement while discussing a proposal for regional heads to be elected by the Regional Representative Councils (DPRD) in a speech at the climax of a Golkar Party's 61st anniversary event at Senayan Sports Arena in Central Jakarta on Friday evening December 5.
"But of course, once again, our new political paradigm must be uniquely Indonesian. We cannot follow the politics of other countries, Western democracy may not necessarily suit us", said Prabowo.
The head of state then criticised Western countries for often wanting to decide everything. These countries teach the meaning of democracy to other countries, but also colonise them. Likewise, they teach human rights (HAM) but continue to violate them.
"The teach us democracy, even though they colonised us for hundreds of years. They teach HAM to us [but] they are the ones who violate them. So yeah, it appears that democracy and HAM are based on personal preference. If they (don't) suit their preferences, only then is a fuss made about it", said Prabowo.
Therefore, Prabowo wants Indonesia to have an appropriate political system. According to him, Indonesia must believe in its own strength and identity.
"We must be proud of our nation's history of struggle. We must always believe in ourselves. And we must find our own solutions; we cannot be overly dictated to or controlled by other nations", Prabowo said.
At the same occasion, the head of state also admitted to be considering a proposal by Golkar Party Chairperson Bahlil Lahadalia, who suggested that regional heads be directly elected by regional DPRDs.
According to Prabowo, this proposal is a solution to prevent politics from being determined by people with money. He also admitted to being inclined towards political forces to provide such a solution.
"If we've already elected the regency DPRDs, provincial DPRDs, yeah, why not just directly choose governors and regents, done", he explained.
Prabowo revealed that this method has already been implemented before by many countries, from Malaysia to the UK. Moreover, the richest countries in the world use low-cost political systems.
"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.
During the Golkar Party's anniversary event earlier in the evening, Lahadalia proposed that regional heads be directly chosen by DPRDs in the next general elections. Lahadalia has often made this suggestion on different occasions.
He also conveyed this during the opening of the Regional Conference (Musda) of the Golkar Party's Southeast Sulawesi (Sultra) Regional Representative Council (DPD I) at a hotel in Kendari on Sunday November 2.
According to Lahadalia the election of governors, as well as regents and mayors by DPRDs is one of the alternative options offered by the Golkar Party. The Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) asserted that the election of regional heads by DPRDs is in accordance with the constitution.
"I said a possible alternative option is the election of governors by DPRDs, because elections in the DPRD are also part of democracy because under the [original] 1945 Constitution direct elections are only for the president. Meanwhile, the election of regents and governors is also through a democratic process", Lahadalia said after opening the Southeast Sulawesi Golkar DPD I Regional Conference.
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "Prabowo: Belum Tentu Demokrasi Barat Cocok di Kita, Dia Ajari HAM tapi Melanggar HAM".]
