TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Director of the Institute for Demographic and Poverty Studies (Ideas) Yusuf Wibisono believes that the Constitutional Court (MK) verdict on the presidential election dispute will set a bad precedent for democracy in Indonesia. He believes that the politicization of social assistance will later be a normalized state practice.

"The politicization of social assistance and the use of public budgets for the electoral interests of those in power will become increasingly widespread in the future," said Yusuf in a written statement to Tempo on Tuesday, April 23, 2024.

The economist said he was surprised that the majority of Constitutional Court justices found no evidence of interference by President Joko Widodo or Jokowi to win the Prabowo Subianto and Gibran Rakabuming Raka. According to him, the politicization of social assistance is clearly aimed at winning the running pair.

"The Constitutional Court's conclusion is even more surprising because the court then asked for social assistance to be halted ahead of elections," he said.

Yusuf explained that the Constitutional Court panel of judges also dismissed the argument about the massive distribution of social assistance ahead of the election. Yusuf believed the social protection budget clearly showed an electoral budget cycle pattern.

In detail, he stated that the budget increased significantly during the pandemic, from Rp308 trillion in 2019 to Rp498 trillion in 2020. Yusuf said this was a natural growth since Indonesia was facing a crisis.

He explained further that the social protection budget decreased in 2021 and 2022, once the threats of a crisis passed. However, the budget rose again ahead of the 2024 elections from Rp439 trillion in 2023 to Rp494 trillion, a 12.4 percent growth. The social assistance budget also increased significantly ahead of the elections.

"The social assistance budget has increased significantly and massively ahead of the presidential election, even though there was no extraordinary economic crisis," he said.

SAVERO ARISTIA WIENANTO

Editor’s Choice: Gibran Rakabuming Awaits Prabowo's Order Post Court's Verdict on Election Dispute

Click here to get the latest news updates from Tempo on Google News