Deepening Democracy in Indonesia?: Direct Elections for Local Leaders (Pilkada)

5. THE RISING IMPORTANCE OF PERSONAL NETWORKS IN INDONESIAN LOCAL POLITICS: An Analysis of District Government Head Elections in South Sulawesi in 2005

101 The Rising Importance of Personal Networks in Indonesian Local Politics 101 5 THE RISING IMPORTANCE OF PERSONAL NETWORKS IN INDONESIAN LOCAL POLITICS An Analysis of District Government Head Elections in South Sulawesi in 2005 Michael Buehler1 In recent years, the initial enthusiasm for decentralization of political authority to the district level and its “democratizing” impact on entrenched political elites in Indonesia has been replaced by increasingly gloomy evaluations of the country’s devolution process. A growing number of both academic and donor accounts now tell the story of how the mode of state power that was established under the authoritarian government of Soeharto continues despite the demise of the New Order regime and the institutional reforms that followed. In other words, despite the introduction of free and fair elections and the devolution of political authority, “old elites” maintained their strategic administrative and political positions at the national, provincial, and local levels (Hadiz and Robison 2004, p. 29). This chapter argues that while “old elites” indeed remain in power, the new institutional environment has reshuffled the cards for political elites. Personal networks at the local level have become more important in winning elections, while large party machines have become 101 05 DeepeningDemocracy Ch 5 1/15/09, 11:17 AM 101 102 102 Michael Buehler a less decisive factor in shaping election outcomes. A more pluralist view than the one stressing continuity above all is thus needed. INSTITUTIONAL CHANGES IN POST-NEW ORDER INDONESIA Indonesian politics have been shaped by two main developments since 1998. Firstly, there has been a more democratic spirit in government after forty years of autocratic rule. Secondly, starting with Law No. 22/1999 and Law No. 25/1999, Indonesia embarked on a far-reaching decentralization process of its political institutions that shifted most of the political power to the districts (kabupaten) and municipalities (kotamadya), leaving the centre — and even more so the provinces — with fewer political and economic responsibilities. Even after the re-centralization attempts of Law No. 32/2004, local governments are still much stronger than prior to 1998. The ambiguous formulation of Law No. 32/2004 resulted in an unclear distribution of responsibilities between levels of government (Atje and Gaduh 2004, p. 9; Jacobsen 2004, p. 384; Kaiser and Hofman 2002, p. 5). At the same time, Law No. 32/2004 drastically cut the oversight power of the local assembly, the Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat Daerah (DPRD), over the local executive. In short, while attempts to reinstate vertical accountability did not successfully materialize, horizontal accountability between the legislative and the executive at the kabupaten level was crippled. In addition to regulating responsibilities between different levels of government, Law No. 32/2004 outlined new institutional procedures for the direct election of local government heads, pemilihan kepala daerah langsung or pilkada for short. As the law outlined, regents (bupati) and mayors (walikota) were to be elected directly by the people for the first time in 2005. In these elections, candidates had to be nominated by parties that had received 15 per cent of the votes or 15 per cent of the seats in local assemblies, either alone or in a coalition, in the 2004 legislative elections.2 Against the backdrop of the strengthened position of the local executive towards other government levels and its increased political responsibilities and budget authority, it is no surprise that the 2005 pilkada attracted considerable attention from local politicians. Pilkada thus provide a good opportunity for studying interest group realignments in post-New Order Indonesia. This chapter will show that, despite the continued dominance of the entrenched political class, only candidates with strong personal networks at the sub-district (kecamatan) level had a reasonable chance of winning in the 05 DeepeningDemocracy Ch 5 1/15/09, 11:17 AM 102 103 The Rising Importance of Personal Networks in Indonesian Local Politics 103 direct elections. Formerly dominant party machines, on the other hand, are disintegrating. Research in two districts in South Sulawesi supports these arguments and matches experience in other districts of South Sulawesi, as well as other provinces in Indonesia. The 2005 pilkada outcomes, then, do not reflect the mere continuation of the New Order status quo in Indonesian local politics. PILKADA IN SOUTH SULAWESI PROVINCE Pilkada were held in ten of the twenty-three kabupaten in South Sulawesi province on 27 June 2005. Ambiguous legal guidelines and a short preparation phase led to various administrative and logistical problems...