REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- General Secretary of Muhammadiyah Abdul Mu'ti gave a record of Indonesian democracy that still harbors many weaknesses. Indonesia's democracy is still very weak because the indicators are far from a good word. It needs a lot of reform to improve democracy.

According to Mu'ti, democracy in Indonesia is power-centric in its orientation as a means of ascending or descending from power. He also saw that Indonesian democracy was so procedural that the sticking point was the formal rules.

“But the spirit and value of democracy seems to be greatly weakened. Democracy and its spirit is sharing power, check and balance then the third is how there is common good,” Mu'ti said after the Final Reflection of the Year 2023, at PP Muhammadiyah Building, Menteng, Central Jakarta, on Thursday (28/12/2023).

It affirms the value contained in democracy itself which is how everyone has equal standing and rights. Within it lies egalitarianism, pluralism and meritocracy as well as accountability. With all that said, according to Mu'ti democracy would be a means of giving space to anyone to perform.

But the reality is the opposite. Mu'ti does not see that democratic values have not yet appeared in Indonesia. And the homework of all citizens today is a very expensive democracy. That's evident in every presidential and vice presidential candidate or prospective member of the House having to spend big bucks to get elected.

In fact, the subtlety of democracy is not expensive. Because with meritocracy, anyone who is accomplished and qualified has the opportunity to become the leader of the nation. But Mu'ti also revealed democracy must grow an atmosphere of freedom in opinion and choice.

“It must grow in a joyful space, it must not be an atmosphere of fear, it must be safe in conveying views and choices,” said Mu'ti, who is also Professor of UIN Sharif Hidayatullah.

There is still a weak democracy in Indonesia, so elections are limited to the five-yearly routine. While the value inherent in democracy itself is forgotten. Thus, the orientation of the Election is limited only to who wins and loses in the contestants.

“That's what I called our zombie-like democracy,” he said.

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