Today, February 14, 2024 was an exceptional day, marked with love in my heart, ash on my forehead, and ink on my pinky finger. As global citizens we celebrate love on this Valentine’s Day. As an Indonesian national, with a “one person, one vote” rule, I join other 205 million registered people to vote members of Parliament, local representatives, and especially the president in the world’s largest single-day election. As a Catholic Christian, I too begin the Lent season for the next 40 days until Easter.
Let’s talk about politics first, democracy in particular. Robert Dahl (1971) defines democracy as a regime in which government is responsive to citizens; and all citizens have unimpaired opportunities to formulate & signify preferences to their fellow citizens and the government by individual and collective action; and to have their preferences weighed equally in the conduct of the government. Since democracy is NOT likely to exist according to this definition, Dahl uses the term polyarchy.
There are two minimum requirements of what makes a country a democracy according to Dahl’s idea of polyarchy: 1) opposition, public contestation, or liberalization; and 2) the right to participate (to vote and contest for office) or inclusiveness. But then, to make it a liberal democracy beyond electoral, we need constrained power in the form of vertical and horizontal accountability of rulers to the ruled. This constrains executive powers and helps protect constitutionalism and legality.
Indonesia’s presidential politics in the 2024 election illuminates the country’s democratic backsliding reflected in a pressing crisis of confidence in the rule of law, and debilitating opposition. I think this is related to executive aggrandizement, that is “when a leader expands his/her power beyond the ‘checks and balances’ provided by the legislature and the judicial system OR interferes with the independence of the civil service.” It was horrifying to see how those with executive power used government resources to weaken their political opposition, and – most importantly – how fishy the Constitutional Court tweaked Indonesia’s 2017 election law, by adding “or have previously held public office” caveat in the current 40-year-old minimum eligibility criteria for candidates running for President or Vice President. This has enabled Gibran, the 36-year-old son of current Indonesian President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo to run as a vice-presidential candidate with Prabowo, a 72-year-old former general and Indonesia’s defence minister, as a presidential candidate. Among the 9 judges involved, Chief Justice Anwar Usman – who happens to be married to Jokowi’s sister – did not recuse himself from the Constitutional Court proceedings, despite its obvious potential of conflict of interest.
I was torn about approaching my choice for the presidential election: should I use the lens of the structuralist approach or individual agency? With the former, the election is widely seen as a competition between who backs each president candidate: Surya Paloh for Anis Baswedan (candidate 1), vs Jokowi for Prabowo Subianto (candidate 2), vs Megawati Soekarnoputri for Ganjar Pranowo (candidate 3). However, I would choose the individual agency over the structuralist approach here to base my decision: to view it as a fight between Anis vs Prabowo vs Ganjar — rather than Surya Paloh vs Jokowi vs Megawati. Based on the track record and policy proposals, I chose Ganjar – a candidate with Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) chaired by Megawati. I believe in a sense of agency within an actor (the president) to withhold the influence of the political party coalition on him. Jokowi himself is an exceptional example of that: as a member of PDI-P, he broke away from the coalition’s system by switching his earlier support for PDI-P’s Ganjar to support for Prabowo who runs with his son Gibran as the vice-president. Jokowi is a Machiavellian political genius. But I highly doubt it’s been fully orchestrated from the beginning that his son runs beside Prabowo. What made him change his mind? I don’t know, but it shows the fragmentation within PDI-P.
Skipping shower, I voted after a 7am Ash Wednesday Mass with my mom.
As I am writing this blog, multiple quick-count pollsters with 70% of samples counted show that Prabowo-Gibran is winning landslide over 55% of national vote, wow. Most Indonesians would vote based on emotional appeal, rather than rational reasoning. Many who like Jokowi would support Prabowo – my brother is one of them – despite Prabowo’s dark record of family’s corruption and human rights violation during his military term. Oh, the so-called Jokowi effect. But can anyone guarantee that — if elected — Prabowo will heed Jokowi?
Jokowi is an undeniably popular, effective, and likeable leader, particularly for the low-income segment of the population that made 55% of registered voters this election. Thanks to notable achievements of his 10-year administration in economic and infrastructure development, low inflation, universal health system, and social stability. The correlation between economic development and democracy is a perpetual text-book question in a Comparative Politics class (at least in the reading list for my PhD comprehensive exam). Jokowi’s power-sharing practice that expands the ruling party coalition, while appears to debilitate the opposition, has contributed to the the political stability and effective policy-making. The recent mounting criticism of his sidelining democracy, and interference did not seem to penetrate the grassroots that may relate to Jokowi’s humble persona and attention to ordinary people. In the name of economic progress and political stability, how much are we willing to compromise on democracy and good governance? Indonesian politics is never black and white.
Now, unto the next topic: love and ashes. Valentine’s Day is a reminder for us to be love to others: be it family love, friendship love, partner love, pet love, and self-love. But we cannot pour from an empty glass. God’s love is therefore above all of them. Ash Wednesday is a reminder for us to number our days in this world. One big takeaway I glean from The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck book by Mark Manson is that when we realize our time on earth is finite, we will start to embrace life and focus on what truly matters — if you fear death then you likely are fearing life as well.
At the moment, I am right in the thick of fieldwork in Indonesia to collect qualitative data for my PhD dissertation through elite interviews at the national and sub-national level December 2023 – March 2024. I recently came back from my rural and non-Java district sample, Southeast Maluku, to do the latter. As what my professor said “Elite interviews are a pain, but getting out to local communities is a joy.” Indeed, the first round of sub-national fieldwork had led me to an incredible place, that is Southeast Maluku, that I have never been. I may need write a separate blog on fieldwork when I have the time.
What a gift to enjoy the pristine beach during my rural fieldwork in Kei island, Southeast Maluku.
I am in the fourth and last funded year of PhD program, as my scholarship from Hopkins will be exhausted by summer 2024. I have applied for some fellowships to fund my fifth and hopefully last year of PhD journey 2024-2025. I need to raise at least $40,000 to replace my annual stipend of $30,000 and to cover the tuition fee & health insurance of $10,000 to be living in Washington DC one more year. The results of my fellowship applications will be announced from May onwards. So I still don’t know where I will be based after summer 2024: US, Indonesia, or Italy?
I try not to think about such uncertainty that breeds anxiety. At the heart of anxiety is fear, tempting me to ask “what if” because anxiety is future-oriented. What if it doesn’t work? What if they don’t show up? What if they bail? What if I fail? But remember, we all will die anyway! “Remember you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” The Church speaks these words while ashes are placed on the foreheads. From a clinical psychology definition, anxiety is the overestimation of a danger and underestimation of our ability to cope with that danger. Instead of overthinking and asking “what if?”, I would train my mind to ask “what is?” and shift the focus from the future to the present. Instead of giving in to anxiety, I would ask these three questions on a daily basis:
1) Am I in a state of grace?
2) Do I show up to my commitments or tasks I get to do?
3) Do I pray?
Thanks to Fr. Mike Schmitz who suggests that three-question formula emphasizing that taking actions kills anxiety. In some ways, I need to know that I can still move even though I cannot control the outcome. I might elaborate it in a separate blog. For now, I am ready to go to bed and conclude this post with my 2024’s verse: “There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear. Because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.” 1 John 4 : 18.
I would therefore focus more on God’s love that has brought me this far, and less on my fears of the unknown.
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