British Prime minister Rishi Sunak speaks during the Prime Minister's weekly question time debate, at the House of Commons on Nov 2, 2022. - Reuters
JAKARTA (The Jakarta Post/Asia News Network): When I read British media reports that the United Kingdom has had three prime ministers within just seven weeks, I immediately recalled my favourite remark by former Australian prime minister Tony Abbott.
After his ouster in a party coup by his comrades in the Liberal Party, Abbot said succession in Australia was just like “changing clothes.” Borrowing Abbott’s logic, the UK has changed clothes too quickly.
As an ordinary Indonesian citizen, I, with my naivety, conclude that Indonesians are much luckier than the British, as well as the Australians, at least in selecting leaders.
Indonesians have the luxury of directly electing their president every five years. The direct presidential election, initiated in 2004 as continuation of political reforms, follows the one man, one vote mechanism.
On Feb 14, 2024, millions of Indonesians will go to the polls to elect President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s successor. Although the democratic event is still 16 months away, the “drum of war” started beating a few months ago
A number of political figures have expressed their intention to contest, if not declare, their nomination regardless of their chances of winning.
In the UK, Australia and Japan, you need to win a parliamentary seat before you can aspire for the highest office. And only a few hundred members of parliament have the right to elect a prime minister.
Please don’t get mad. It is all right when you call my commentary tasteless and baseless. You can also argue that the parliamentary system in the UK and Australia cannot be compared with Indonesia’s presidential system.
When Rishi Sunak became the prime minister of the UK on Oct 24, the British media raised the question as to how the country could have three prime ministers within a span of seven weeks. “How did that happen?”
If I were ever asked, I would answer, ”It’s because only the Tory Party, which won the 2019 election, has the power to elect a prime minister from within.” The only way to prevent the “clothes-changing” practice is by holding an election earlier than the original schedule of 2025.
British culture and practices of democracy are much more mature than those of Indonesia, which only embraced democracy after the fall of Suharto’s New Order in May 1998.
Sunak, a British of Indian descent, became prime minister on Oct 25, replacing Liz Truss who resigned after only being in charge for 44 days. Truss replaced Boris Johnson who led the Conservative Party in the 2019 election victory, capitaliSing on leaving the European Union (Brexit) theme.
Many believe that Indonesia should learn from the UK’s bold decision to abandon the EU, its biggest trading partner. They think Indonesia is sacrificing too much and benefiting too little to stay with Asean.
They deem Indonesia too important for Asean and therefore must stop prioritising the regional grouping in its foreign policy agenda, especially because Indonesia is a member of the elite club of the 20 largest economies in the world, the Group of 20 (G-20).
The British, too, have overrated themselves and insist they will live a far better life when they leave the EU, although reality is often different from what we believe.
The best lesson from Brexit for Indonesia, therefore, is never think about leaving Asean because Indonesia will never be as strong as it is now without being part of Asean.
The political turmoil in the UK is interesting to watch. After Truss’s fall from grace, people are demanding that she refuse her right to claim an annual pension of 115,000 pounds (RM613,000) for the rest of her life because her term as prime minister only lasted 44 days.
In Australia, Malcolm Turnbull toppled Abbott on Sept 15, 2015, just two years after the Liberal Party defeated the Labour Party in the Sept 13, 2013 election.
The Labour Party was in charge of the government from 2007 until its defeat six years later under the leadership of Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard and Rudd again for a few months before the party surrendered to the Liberals. Altogether, Australia had five ministers in five years.
After Abbott’s fall, Australia was ruled by Scott Morrison and Anthony Albanese. “I hope that what happened a fortnight ago finishes all this stuff, that we get right away from this concept of changing the leader like you might change your clothes to suit the fashion,” Abbott said in a radio interview after he was toppled by Turnbull.
Abbot deemed his fall as a result of a “revolving door” mechanism. “The difficulty with the revolving door prime ministership is that the government can’t do what is necessary for the long-term good of our country if you’re subject to death by polls and then ultimately a party room coup.”
Indonesia is the third-largest democracy in the world, albeit with all its imperfections. You may also argue that the only proof that democracy works in Indonesian is the one man, one vote mechanism in elections.
Indonesia’s commitment to other democratic principles, such as the rule of law, remains questionable. But even Americans can learn from Indonesians how to accept an election defeat. Here in Indonesia, two competitors in the 2014 and 2019 presidential elections are now working together.
I salute the election of a Hindu and a non-white man as the UK prime minister. I cannot imagine Indonesia will ever let a non-Muslim or a non-Javanese become the president of the Republic.
The historic moment in the UK does not change my opinion that we Indonesians are much luckier than the British, because we have the right to elect our leaders.
***The writer is a senior editor at The Jakarta Post.
