Indonesia's Democracy Level Declined in 2023: What are the Causes?

The Central Statistics Agency (BPS) recorded an Indonesian Democracy Index (IDI) score of 79.25 points in 2023. The 2023 achievement is down 0.90 points from 2022, which was 80.41 points.

With this achievement, Indonesian democracy has dropped from a "good" level to a "moderate" level. The measurement levels are: "good" with an index value of more than 80 points, "moderate" with an index of 60–80 points, and "poor" with an index of less than 60 points.

Nevertheless, the government considers this to have exceeded the target set in the Government Work Plan (RKP).

"From the perspective of development planning, the 2023 IDI achievement still exceeds the 2023 RKP target of 79.25. However, compared to the 2022 IDI achievement, the figure has decreased by 0.90 points," said the Deputy for Domestic Political Coordination at the Coordinating Ministry for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs (Kemenko Polhukam), Major General TNI Heri Wiranto, at the Kemenko Polhukam office, Jakarta, Monday (10/6/2024).

The decline occurred across the board. The central IDI achievement figure was 83.14, down 1.15 points, while the provincial IDI achievement figure was 77.21, down 0.74 points. All assessments are compiled using a number of indicators, each of which is given points.

(Read also: Yogyakarta Achieved the Highest Indonesian Democracy Index Score in 2022)

Heri explained that in the central IDI, the main decline was caused by an increase in obstacles to freedom of expression in indicator 1, obstacles to freedom of belief in indicator 3, and press freedom in indicator 7.

Meanwhile, in the provincial IDI, there were more indicators showing a decline. These include freedom of belief in indicator 3, fulfillment of workers' rights in indicator 6, press freedom in indicator 7, public participation involvement by representative bodies in indicator 9, the quality of public services in indicator 21, and political education for political party cadres in indicator 22.

According to Heri, some of this decline was indeed caused by the 2024 General Election. This fact can be seen in cases of obstacles to freedom of expression, some of which are related to the election.

Other indicators, such as public participation involvement by representative bodies and political education for political party cadres, which decreased, show a shift in the priorities of political parties that are more focused on consolidating election victories.

"However, we can emphasize that the impact of the election on the decrease in the IDI figure is only partial, because the decrease in other indicators is not directly related to the election," Heri argued.

Heri gave an example: the press freedom index in indicator 7 at the central level fell from 75.92 to 61.95. He said this 13.97-point decrease deserves attention, considering the press is one of the pillars of democracy.

"This is in line with data from the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) which states that 2023 was the year with the highest number of acts of violence against journalists in the last 10 years," said Heri.

(Read also: 45% of Indonesian Journalists Experienced Violence in 2023, Including Intimidation and Death Threats)