The formation of the Indonesian government in front of the presidential palace in 2019 (Anatolia)
Although Indonesia is the largest country in the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, and Muslims constitute 87.2% of its population of 270 million people, and although Islamic principles have an important role in shaping the political system and in the movement of society, the country is constitutionally not defined as a Muslim state or Islamic, and Islam is not considered the state religion; Because it was founded on what is known locally as "Pancasila".
The identity of the republic
When the country gained its independence in 1945 from Dutch colonialism, and the establishment of the Republic of Indonesia was declared, the founders agreed on 5 principles governing the political system in the country, which were announced by the founding president, Ahmed Sukarno, in a speech known as the “Pancasila” speech, which means in Sanskrit: “The Five Principles.”
These principles were agreed upon taking into account the wide ethnic and religious diversity in the archipelago, which consists of 13,000 islands, 7,000 of which are inhabited, and a spectrum of religions spread throughout them.
The government recognizes the following faiths: (Muslims 87.2%, Protestants 7%, Roman Catholics 2.9%, Hinduism 1.7%, other 0.9% (including Buddhism and Confucianism). While atheism is not recognized as a belief.
These five principles can be summarized as follows:
Belief in one God.
Just and civilized humanity.
State territorial integrity of Indonesia.
Democracy in state administration.
Social justice for all Indonesian people.
Flags of the parties participating in the 2024 elections on a street in Jakarta (Anatolia)
Indonesian Constitution
The Constitution of Indonesia was adopted in 1945 and has remained in effect ever since, except for the period between 1949 and 1959. It was amended 4 times between 1998 and 2002 as part of the democratic reforms after the overthrow of the Suharto regime in 1998.
Indonesia inherited its legal system from the Dutch colonial era, and many of its articles - such as the Penal Code - are still in effect today. Islamic law has a presence in Indonesian law, especially in personal status, inheritance, marriage, divorce, and others.
However, Indonesia does not apply legal borders, with the exception of Aceh province, which gained autonomy allowing it to apply Islamic law, after signing a peace agreement that ended decades of armed conflict with the central government.
Democratic transformation
The overthrow of the Suharto regime in 1998 after a student revolution against the backdrop of the financial crisis that struck Southeast Asian countries in 1997 was the end of the country’s system of governance since its independence in 1945, and the beginning of the process of democratic transformation.
Yusuf Habibie, who succeeded Suharto, launched the democratic transition phase during his tenure as president for only 517 days. He passed a press law to guarantee freedom of expression through the media, which had been restricted until then, lifted restrictions on the right to form political parties, and controversially supported self-determination for the people of East Timor, leading to that territory's independence from Indonesia in 2002. .
Executive Authority
The system of government in Indonesia is presidential. Broad powers are in the hands of the president, who is elected directly by the people. He is the head of state and government. He is the one who appoints ministers, approves legislation adopted by Parliament, and has the right to veto them.
The President also has the power to issue presidential decrees that have political effects, is responsible for Indonesia's foreign relations, although treaties require legislative approval, and is Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces.
The executive branch consists of the president, vice president, and cabinet. The process of selecting the president and vice president is by direct election by the people, and their term lasts for 5 years, which can be renewed by election for a second term only, to ensure the peaceful transfer of power. The first direct presidential elections were held in 2004.
Given that 60% of Indonesia’s population is concentrated on the island of Java, and the vast majority of them are Muslims; The position of president and vice president are exclusively Muslims, but in lower political positions and in other regions, it is possible for non-Muslims to hold those positions.
Conditions for running for president
A presidential candidate must have the official support of a political party, or a party coalition that constitutes either 20% of the central parliament, or 25% of the votes in the previous elections.
He is required to be at least 40 years old (he was overridden by the Constitutional Court in the 2024 elections due to vice-presidential candidate Ghebreen, President Jokowi’s son), and to have resided in Indonesia for at least 5 years, and not to have foreign nationality, either at the time of the election or At any earlier time.
A presidential candidate is not required to be the head of a political party, but is usually supported by a coalition of political parties.
A presidential candidate needs (50% + one) of the votes cast, and at least 20% of the votes in more than half of the 38 provinces to win the presidency.
If neither candidate is able to achieve the required percentage, a runoff for the presidential elections is held in June between the two candidates who received the largest number of votes.
The People's Advisory Council, which includes the House of Representatives and the Senate (Getty)
Legislature
The legislative authority in Indonesia is the People's Consultative Assembly, which is made up of two chambers, the House of People's Representatives (the lower chamber), and the Senate, or representatives of the provinces (the upper chamber).
The People's Assembly is responsible for amending or deleting some articles or provisions of the Constitution by a two-thirds majority of members. He appoints the President and Vice President, and has the power to remove either of them if he commits possible violations of the 1945 Constitution and the laws of the Republic during their term.
The Assembly of People's Representatives consists of 580 members. It is responsible for drafting and approving laws, preparing the annual budget in cooperation with the president, supervising the general performance of political affairs, and is elected for a period of 5 years through direct popular election on the basis of proportional representation.
The electoral system, division of districts, and ethnic and religious diversity practically do not allow any party to obtain a majority in parliamentary seats, and in most cases the percentage of the first party in the elections does not exceed 25%, so the need remains for an alliance with other parties to form a government coalition.
Legislative elections
To participate in the elections, political parties are required to have branches in every province in Indonesia, and in 75% of the cities in those provinces.
Parties participating in the elections must have at least 30% of their list of candidates female.
A political party needs to secure 4% of the electorate (election threshold) to enter the central parliament (580 seats). This condition does not apply to regional and governorate parliaments, as it is sufficient to secure the necessary votes to win the parliamentary seat there.
Senate candidates are required not to be members of any political party. 4 senators are elected from each region (the total number of regions is 38).
Since the 2019 elections, the presidential and legislative elections have been held simultaneously. Each voter votes on 5 different papers and places them in 5 ballot boxes, in the following order: the first for the president and his deputy, the second for the central parliament, the third for the regional parliament, the fourth for the governorate parliament, and the fifth for the Senate.
Elections are being held in 38 provinces, 514 governorates, and 7,277 municipalities, to elect 20,000 representatives in various parliaments.
One of the achievements of the post-1998 reforms was to limit the military's political influence, abolishing parliamentary seats reserved for military representatives, and preventing active-duty members of the security forces from voting or standing in elections.
President Jokowi takes the constitutional oath before the People's Consultative Assembly after the 2019 elections (Getty)
Judiciary
The highest court in the judicial system in Indonesia is the Supreme Court. Its ruling is final and not subject to appeal, and it considers rulings issued by lower courts. While the Constitutional Court, which was established in 2003, is responsible for deciding disputes over the interpretation of the Constitution, and whether the decisions of the Council of Ministers and Parliament are consistent with its texts. While public legal cases are referred to general courts, administrative courts, religious courts, and military courts.
A judicial committee oversees the maintenance of the honorable conduct and integrity of Indonesian judges; Due to the spread of corruption, which often includes the courtrooms.
Local and regional governments
Indonesia has 34 provinces, divided into 416 districts and 98 cities. Each province has a directly elected governor and a regional council, and governors and city mayors are also directly elected.
In 2000, Indonesia moved from being a highly centralized system to one in which local authorities, at the district and city levels, enjoyed significant autonomy and budgets in areas such as health care, education, and the environment.
Other important institutions in the country
Among the important state institutions are the State Audit Council and the Supreme Advisory Council. The State Audit Council is responsible for reviewing and examining the government’s financial procedures, and submits its report to the People’s Advisory Council (Parliament), which is the body that approves the state’s estimated revenues and expenditures.
While the Supreme Advisory Council provides advice to the President upon request, on matters related to political, economic, social, cultural and military issues.
The members of the Supreme Advisory Council are nominated by the People's Advisory Council and appointed by the President of the Republic for a period of 5 years. The number of members of the Supreme Advisory Council is 45.
Source: websites