{"id":12886,"date":"2026-08-06T09:58:29","date_gmt":"2026-08-06T02:58:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/puskapol.fisip.ui.ac.id\/?p=12886"},"modified":"2026-08-06T14:16:28","modified_gmt":"2026-08-06T07:16:28","slug":"dialog-demokrasi-mengurai-desain-kelembagaan-pilkada-untuk-demokrasi-lokal-yang-substantif","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/puskapol.fisip.ui.ac.id\/en\/activities\/events\/dialog-demokrasi-mengurai-desain-kelembagaan-pilkada-untuk-demokrasi-lokal-yang-substantif\/","title":{"rendered":"Democracy Dialogue \u2013 Dissecting the Institutional Design of Regional Head Elections for Substantive Local Democracy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Jakarta, July 29, 2026 \u2014 Delia Wildianti, a researcher at the Center for Political Studies (PUSKAPOL) at the University of Indonesia, served as the moderator for a Democracy Dialogue titled “Deconstructing the Institutional Design of Regional Head Elections (Pilkada) for Substantive Local Democracy.” The event was organized by The Habibie Center in collaboration with Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS) Indonesia at Wisma Habibie Ainun, South Jakarta.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The dialogue took place amidst an ongoing evaluation of how regional head elections (Pilkada) are conducted in Indonesia. Constitutional Court Ruling Number 195\/PUU-XXIV\/2026 affirmed that Pilkada must continue to be held via direct election, thereby providing certainty regarding the mechanism for selecting regional heads. Nevertheless, the quality of local democracy continues to face various challenges, particularly in achieving meaningful representation, functional accountability, sustainable corrective mechanisms, and equal access to power. Through this dialogue, speakers examined various alternative institutional designs capable of strengthening a more substantive local democracy in Indonesia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The event opened with remarks from Mohammad Hasan Ansori, Executive Director of The Habibie Center, and Jan Senkyr, Director of Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS) for Indonesia and Timor-Leste. Subsequently, Dr. Drs. Akbar Ali, M.Si., Director of Domestic Politics at the Directorate General of Politics and General Government of the Ministry of Home Affairs (Kemendagri), delivered a keynote address emphasizing the importance of strengthening local democratic governance through institutional designs that are adaptive, accountable, and oriented toward improving the quality of regional government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first presentation was delivered by Prof. Dr. Firman Noor, M.A. (Hons.), a Senior Associate Fellow at The Habibie Center. In his remarks, Prof. Firman explained that the conduct of regional head elections (Pilkada<\/em>) still faces numerous challenges, including high political costs, the growing influence of oligarchies, political participation that tends to be mobilized rather than organic, issues regarding the integrity of election organizers, and a narrowing space for contestation due to the formation of coalitions driven primarily by the pursuit of office. According to him, strengthening local democracy requires reforming political parties so they can serve as the epicenter for developing ideas, policies, leadership, and democratic ethics. Furthermore, improvements are needed in Pilkada<\/em> regulations to ensure “meaningful participation” through “meaningful competition,” alongside the strengthening of election organizers’ integrity\u2014free from practical political interests\u2014and the provision of comprehensive political education. He also emphasized the importance of implementing Constitutional Court Ruling Number 135\/PUU-XXII\/2024, which mandates the separation of national and local elections with an adequate time interval. These measures are considered vital for reinforcing the Pilkada<\/em> as an instrument for upholding popular sovereignty at the local level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The subsequent perspective was presented by Sri Budi Eko Wardani, an academic from the Department of Political Science at the University of Indonesia, who examined the dimension of political representation within the institutional design of Pilkada<\/em>. She explained that political representation regarding regional heads still faces various challenges. Women’s representation in regional leadership positions remains relatively limited, while the pool of regional heads continues to be dominated by popular figures, political elites, businesspeople, and individuals with political kinship ties. Consequently, Sri Budi Eko Wardani advocates for the establishment of more substantive and programmatic political interactions between citizens and regional head candidates. Within this framework, the public plays a role by conveying their aspirations and needs prior to the election; candidates translate these aspirations into work programs during the campaign period; and the public exercises oversight regarding program implementation once the regional head is elected. The perspective of the election management body was presented by August Mellaz, a member of the General Elections Commission (KPU) of the Republic of Indonesia who oversees the Division of Socialization, Voter Education, and Public Participation. Mellaz explained that the nature of public participation differs between general elections and regional head elections (Pilkada<\/em>). In general elections, participation tends to reflect mere “involvement,” whereas in regional elections, it evolves into “engagement,” signifying a more active role for the public in the local political process. He also emphasized the importance of having regional election management bodies that are transparent, accountable, and professional, alongside the strengthening of avenues for public participation as a foundation for boosting public trust in the democratic process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The series of dialogues demonstrates that the institutional design of regional head elections (Pilkada) plays a strategic role in determining the quality of local democracy. Inclusive political representation, accountability in governance, meaningful public participation, and effective oversight and corrective mechanisms are essential elements in building a local democracy that is increasingly responsive, high-quality, and oriented toward the public interest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With Delia Wildianti serving as moderator, PUSKAPOL UI participated in this public discussion forum concerning local democracy, electoral politics, and the strengthening of democratic institutions in Indonesia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Readers interested in learning more about the topics discussed in the Democracy Dialogue can watch a recording of the event on The Habibie Center’s YouTube channel.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jakarta, July 29, 2026 \u2014 Delia Wildianti, a researcher at the Center for Political Studies (PUSKAPOL) at the University of Indonesia, served as the moderator for a Democracy Dialogue titled…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":12913,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[238],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12886","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-events"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/puskapol.fisip.ui.ac.id\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12886","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/puskapol.fisip.ui.ac.id\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/puskapol.fisip.ui.ac.id\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/puskapol.fisip.ui.ac.id\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/puskapol.fisip.ui.ac.id\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12886"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/puskapol.fisip.ui.ac.id\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12886\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12914,"href":"https:\/\/puskapol.fisip.ui.ac.id\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12886\/revisions\/12914"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/puskapol.fisip.ui.ac.id\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12913"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/puskapol.fisip.ui.ac.id\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12886"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/puskapol.fisip.ui.ac.id\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12886"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/puskapol.fisip.ui.ac.id\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12886"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}