Political System Of Indonesia Essay

The Indonesia’s politic follows a democratic framework since post-Suharto regime, wherein the president holds both the role of the head of state and the head of government. Indonesia’s political system comprises of multiple parties with the government possessing the executive power while both the government and the two People's Representative Councils, namely the DPR and DPD enforcing the legislative power. The judicial branch, in contrast, is independent of both the executive and legislative branches. The limited separation of executive, legislative and judicial power was introduced in the 1945 constitution and the Indonesian’s governance has thus been described as "presidential with parliamentary characteristics” [1]. This democratization advancement from 30 years of Suharto’s authoritarian regime was considered relatively successful and is perceived to be one of the most phenomenal political developments in the regions as this huge leap in governance transformation did not brew significant unrest. However, it is noteworthy that

Habibie accepted the nomination as the 7th term president, whom was the first Indonesia’s president that declared commitment to democracy and human rights [2]. This declaration came as a surprise as President Habibie was commonly regarded to be along side with President Suharto. Nonetheless, despite the continuous efforts by President Habibie, President Abdurrahman Wahid and President Megawati in advancing democracy in Indonesia, such as by increasing the freedom of press and expression, imposing checks and balances between the executive and legislative branches as well as forming a depoliticized military, democratization process in Indonesia unfortunately remains stagnant or worse, moving backwards mainly owing to the fact that the substantial democracy is still being overlooked albeit the democratic procedures were well established