New York: Oxford University Press, 2023. xvii, 313 pp. (Tables.) US$108.00, cloth. ISBN 9780192870681.
Indonesia’s unexpected return to democracy in 1999 after four decades of authoritarian rule generated a new subsphere of scholarship leaving scholars of democracy and Indonesian politics puzzled over the many paradoxes involved. The literature keeps growing as, contrary to many predictions, Indonesia’s democracy has persisted and evolved (or degenerated) in complex and unique ways. This ably edited collection of 14 essays, organized into two parts and featuring established and emerging scholars, is a welcome addition to the literature. Its concentration on Indonesia’s Constitution with the associated political, legal, and institutional frameworks is a point of difference from other collections dealing with Indonesian democracy, which have had (and undoubtedly will have) similarly useful but different focuses. The book provides readers with informed discussions from an assortment of perspectives about different dimensions of the political practices, conflicts, and debates around the Indonesian Constitution. In the process, new insights into the problems and prognoses of Indonesia’s democracy are provided.
In the introduction, Melissa Crouch applies the idea of transformational authoritarian constitutions (those associated with authoritarian rule but then utilized with amendments to facilitate a transfer to democracy) to the Indonesian case, warning of their limits and, perhaps intrinsic, dangers to Indonesia’s democracy. There is also a short but very useful genealogy of Indonesia’s past constitutions, a history that illuminates much about the course and nature of Indonesian politics.
Part 1 with seven contributions is entitled “Legal and Political Foundations and Institutions.” Stephen Sherlock analyzes the notorious low-productivity problem of Indonesia’s legislature, arguing that it is actually a consequence of an incomplete constitutional reform. Contrary to a common but superficial reading, the amended Constitution does not give full legislative power to the legislature. This power is actually shared with the president who in practice has what amounts to “veto power over every key decision in the lawmaking process…” (29) through the way the joint agreement clause has been implemented. Marcus Mietzner explores the origin and persistence of the original 1945 Constitution’s appeal to Indonesia’s military—once its utility for their interests was realized in the late 1950s—principally through its legitimizing of military participation in politics. This discussion is aptly linked to renewed calls for a return to the initial 1945 Constitution and the threat this would pose to Indonesian democracy. Fachrizal Afandi and Adriaan Bedner examine the key reform which separated the police from the military and show how in practice this reform has done little to improve the rights of individuals accused of a crime. Moreover, they argue that the security forces remain a tool used by the state for political purposes. Rachel Diprose examines Indonesia’s radical decentralization reform which remains a site of intense struggle between various local and central interests. Case studies involving extractive resource industries illustrate the challenges involved in setting a balance between national and local interests. Dian Rositawati’s contribution explores the largely ineffectual efforts to raise the standards of independence and accountability of Indonesia’s judiciary through a focus on the friction between the Supreme Court and the Judicial Commission, which was a result of constitutional amendments. Adhy Aman and Dirk Tomsa show how the amended Constitution’s provision of flexibility to lawmakers for the design of Indonesia’s electoral processes and institutions has encouraged considerable tinkering in pursuit of political advantage. Negative consequences include increased polarization, vote buying, and a drag on increasing female participation. Fritz Siregar looks at the relative success of the Election Supervision Body in protecting democracy and examines options for electoral dispute reform, favouring establishment of an electoral court.
Part 2 with six contributions falls under the heading, “The Constitutional Court and Rights.” Andrew Rosser examines the role of litigation that sought to utilize the amended Constitution in pursuit of collective social rights, concluding that it has had an impact in making government “enforce or realize them in practice” (186). Some doubt is expressed, however, as to whether this avenue will continue to bear much fruit, largely due to a decline in Indonesia’s democracy. Yance Arizona traces the course of considerations of indigeneity in Indonesia’s past constitutions, showing that for the most part, including currently, such recognition has been limited and subordinated to the concept of national interest. Stephanus Hendrianto looks into the phenomenon of informal constitutional amendments through decisions of the Constitutional Court. Four case studies are provided where it is claimed the Court has made significant informal amendments in the areas of elections, the bill of rights, the economy, and religion. Ahmad Rofii and Nadirsyah Hosen explain how the controversial and undefined phrase “religious values” was inserted into the amended 1945 Constitution. Rofii and Hosen show how this phrase enables Court decisions that effectively limit the constitutional guarantee of the right to religious freedom and uphold laws detrimental to religious minorities. Employing two case studies, the Blasphemy Law and the Zakat Management Law, they also critique the Court for lack of clarity and for effectively protecting “orthodoxy against unorthodox interpretation” (256). Abdurrachman Satrio discusses the Constitutional Court’s conduct of a case brought to criminalize adult same-sex relations under the Criminal Code on the basis that religious values provide a constitutional basis for limiting LGBT human rights. While the Court’s ruling that deferred to the legislature failed to provide any constitutional defense of these rights, an argument is made that under the circumstances the Court’s decision was effectively a political way to protect them. Mark Cammack surveys the performance of the Constitutional Court through its utilization of the principle of legal certainty as a mechanism that facilitated the Court’s capacity to rule laws unconstitutional.
This is a timely publication. Not only does it serve as a useful update on scholarship about Indonesian democracy, but it arrives just before the February 2024 presidential and parliamentary elections. It will grace the library of any scholar, or anybody else, with an interest in contemporary Indonesia.
Steven Drakeley
Western Sydney University, Sydney