Mahfud Md: Indonesia's Democracy Remains in Procedural Rather than Substantive

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs Mahfud MD said that Indonesia is still in a procedural democracy phase and has not yet entered the substantive one, referring to the 2019 Indonesian Democracy Index (IDI).

“The government published the 2019 IDI book to provide a comprehensive explanation of the portrait of democracy in 2019. The index can be a reference for the central and regional governments in preparing development planning in the political sector,” said Mahfud MD in a written statement in line with the launching of the book today, November 24, 2020.

The democracy aspects measured in the book include Civil Liberties (with 4 variables and 10 indicators), Political Rights (2 variables and 7 indicators), and Democratic Institutions (5 variables, 11 indicators).

Seven provinces have good quality democracy as they scored above 80 out of 100, namely Jakarta (88.29), North Kalimantan (83.45), Riau Islands (81.64), Bali (81,38), Central Kalimantan (81.16), East Nusa Tenggara (81.02), and Yogyakarta (80.67).

Meanwhile, 26 provinces sre classified in the medium category with a score between 60-80, and one province is in the poor category with a score below 60.

In general, Indonesia scored 74.92 in the 2019 Democracy Index, recording the highest score since the program was launched eleven years ago or in 2009. The achievement indicates that the national quality of democracy is still at the 'medium' level. By means, the country’s democratic systems and institutions still have several problems.

Read: Setback in Indonesia's Democracy Accelerated by Pandemic: LPE3S Study

EGI ADYATAMA