Understanding the President of Indonesia

In the chaos of political struggle, it is very possible for people to be poisoned by the thoughts and behavior of politicking. Not a few have failed to ask, let alone understand, what the position of Indonesian president they are currently contesting for actually is.

The following article was translated using both Microsoft Azure Open AI and Google Translation AI. The original article can be found in Memahami Presiden Indonesia

HERYUNANTO

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Serving as the president of Indonesia is considered by many citizens, especially politicians, as the ultimate achievement that is unparalleled. Therefore, almost all citizens and politicians feel a need to be involved in the political turmoil of presidential elections.

In the political year, the political struggle to win the post of president became people's daily menu. This political struggle will continue to repeat itself in a five-year cycle because it usually starts to heat up a year before the president's term of office ends.

In the chaos of the political struggle that is raging, it is very possible that the people will be poisoned by the thoughts and behavior ofpoliticking. Not a few have failed to ask, let alone understand, what the position of Indonesian president is, which they are fighting for with all their efforts and means. To the point that, those who feel they have failed in the political struggle are willing to wail and revile.

The Indonesian people and their politicians seem to have failed to understand that in advanced countries like the United States, citizens who are already smart and mature in politics and democracy are apparently no longer too concerned about presidential elections.

This is evidenced by the low level of political participation of citizens in presidential elections, which is difficult to exceed 60 percent of the total number of voters.

In the chaos of the political struggle that is raging, it is very possible for the people to be poisoned by the thoughts and behavior of politicking.

US citizens have come to understand that the president is not everything. They also understand that the presidency is a temporary position that will not completely and instantly change the landscape of life. Therefore, it is natural that former US presidents live as ordinary citizens after serving, as in the case of Barack Obama, George Bush, or Ronald Reagan.

The ability to understand the position of the president thoroughly and comprehensively should be elementary knowledge for the Indonesian public. Therefore, the people will not be swept away in the tumultuous waves of cunning and sly political struggles, which in reality have little benefit in improving their lives, if not to be said as a deceitful illusion.

Life, fundamentally, must still be fought for on a personal basis, and in many respects, not through politics.

Presidential powers

The scope of power of the Indonesian president, according to the 1945 Constitution as the state's constitution, is to hold the government's power in running the 1945 Constitution and laws. This is commonly referred to as the executive power holder.

Within the scope of executive power, the president also holds the power to appoint and dismiss ministers, ambassadors, consuls, or receive the placement of ambassadors from friendly countries.

The President also holds quasi-legislative power in the process of forming laws, issuing government regulations to replace laws, government regulations, and presidential regulations. The President also holds quasi-judicial power to grant pardon, rehabilitation, amnesty, and abolition.

Checks and balances mechanism

Even though it seems that the scope of his powers is quite broad, in fact the Indonesian president is not free to carry out governmental actions as he pleases, because the president is both limited and controlled by political or legal responsibilities. The 1945 Constitution stipulates that the Indonesian president is not in the condition of "The president can do no wrong".

However, unfortunately, until now Indonesia is still reluctant to form a presidential position law that comprehensively regulates presidential institutions in order to make the president more transparent, accountable, and responsible in implementing their authority.

In exercising his powers, the Indonesian president is monitored, even limited, by a check and balance mechanism between legislative power held by the DPR and judicial power exercised by the Supreme Court and the Constitutional Court.

Even the president is monitored by the press as the fourth pillar of political power, both mainstream and social media. In practice, social media not only supervises and criticizes, but is even more cruel, to the point of insulting and cursing the president.

The implications of supervision by checks and balances mechanisms or supervision by the press means that the post-reform Indonesian president is no longer free to execute his powers based on personal or group perceptions (inner circle). On the other hand, the Indonesian president tends to be trapped in a chain of regulations that are sometimes too detailed and long-winded.

It is in this context that President Joko Widodo (Jokowi)'s desire to simplify regulations and breakthrough procedures emerged. Unfortunately, President Jokowi's careful idea was hijacked by his assistants with an omnibus law framework which is constitutionally wrong.

Unfortunately, President Jokowi's careful idea was hijacked by his assistants with an omnibus law framework which is constitutionally wrong.

Due to complicated and long-winded regulations, to implement strategic projects such as the construction of toll roads and ports, President Jokowi needed to issue a separate presidential regulation as an effort to short-cut (breakthrough) the delays in legal rules and bureaucratic procedures.

Apart from that, personally, the President of Indonesia no longer truly enjoys glory (dignity) because every day the president can receive insults and insults from the people.

Mirage

Ideally, the people should begin to realize that the perspective on the presidency as a position of ultimate power, capable of singlehandedly changing the quality of personal or collective lives instantly and automatically, is nothing but an illusion.

The presidency is merely a state institution entrusted with the task of gradually and systematically improving the welfare of the public. It would be a violation of the constitution if the Indonesian president were to misuse their power for the purpose of providing special benefits and advantages to themselves or their group.

It is time for the people to treat the process of selecting a president as a normal constitutional mechanism without creating victims, damage, or hurt feelings.

Bahrul Ilmi Yakup Chairman of the Association of Constitutional Advocates-Lecturers