The Constitution of Indonesia (UUD 1945) has limited presidential term only two periods. The President of Indonesia is under an oath to carry out the constitutional mandate (UUD 1945) which is not to change the contents and exceed the presidential term, which is only two periods.
But currently, there is a group of people who have supported a third presidential bid for Presiden Joko “Jokowi” Widodo in 2024. Of course, this is a contrary to the provisions that have been regulated by the constitution.
The group has endorsed a Jokowi ticket for the 2024 presidential election.
They reasoned that Jokowi was a figure capable of creating the stability of the country. Beside, the group offered Jokowi’s partner is Prabowo Subianto that is currently serves as Defense Minister. In the 2019 presidential election, Prabowo was Jokowi’s opponent. But, in the coming election, Jokowi-Prabowo are trusted as the pairing the two figures would unite the nation.
Political power in Indonesia is experiencing quite sharp dynamics. Supporters of the ruling regime and those in opposition have their own arguments. Social media such as twitter, youtube and facebook become the battlefield used by each group.
The discourse of these three periods also enliven the trending topics on twitter. Every day, people are presented with a variety of words attacking each other and blaspheming each other which leads to support or opposition about the discourse of the three periods.
Opposition groups argued that Jokowi has failed to run Indonesia over the past two terms. There are many indications of the President’s incompetence, such as handling Covid-19, law enforcement, inequality between the urban poor, rampant corruption and social environmental issues.
Massive demonstrations have occurred in big cities in Indonesia related to rejection of Omnibus Jobs Law which ended with the “Jokowi End Game” discourse.
The Opposition forces consisting of student movements, journalists, political parties to academics, have lowered their forces to push Jokowi down. However, the President gets political power from major partiesparliamentary representatives housesuch as PDIP, Golkar Party, PKB and so on. In the house of representatives (DPR), Jokowi has the support of the majority so that makes his position is strong.
The supporters have many reasons why Jokowi should be re-elected in the 2024 Presidential Election. According to their reasons, Jokowi has succeeded in building a number of infrastructures in the form of toll roads, airports and ports in many areas. The last discourse was the relocation of the country’s capital, which turned out to be impossible due to the lack of funds and the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The conflict between opposant and supporters is so strong. That makes the freedom of civil society is disturbed. Police officers took action against mural artists who inked anti-Jokowi paintings on many streets. This increases anti-government sentiment for some groups. In addition, of course, fear for people who are accustomed to freedom of expression in Indonesia.
Murals are actually common in big cities in Indonesia. Many doodles are done by artists with different purposes. However, since the Covid-19 pandemic, people have complained the restrictions about activities that have made them lose their jobs.
Murals are regulated by law with the aim of not causing environmental damage. However, the people use the murals as their “weapon” to attack the Government. The administrative officer removed the murals by repainting the walls painted by the artists.
Indonesia‘s current condition is actually not good. The three-term discourse for the President is the main source of problems that must be addressed immediately. President Jokowi has repeatedly rejected the discourse. However, who could have thought that the political winds were blowing in a direction that was difficult to predict. Politicians can say A today, but it can change to be B the next day. (*)
