In commemoration of its 10th anniversary, the Populi Center held an expert opinion poll by interviewing 50 experts as resource persons with competence in the fields of social, political and governmental sciences. The poll results are presented in the discussion on line entitled 'Release of Expert Opinion Poll on National and State Conditions'. The discussion is carried out online through an application zoom meetings on Sunday (5 June 2022). The discussion presented three speakers, namely Prof. Djohermansyah Djohan (Regional Autonomy Institute), Prof. Ikrar Nusa Bhakti (Center for Political Research BRIN), and Rafif Pamenang Imawan (Populi Center). The discussion was guided by Jefri Adriansyah (Researcher, Populi Center)
The discussion began with a discussion of the results of the expert opinion poll presented by Rafif Pamenang Imawan. The discussion of the results consists of several topics, starting from the conditions and performance of political actors in democracy, Principles of State Policy (PPHN), regional autonomy, relocation of the State Capital, corruption eradication agencies, reform of POLRI institutions, to the development of the digital economy in homeland.
Responding to the existing findings, Prof. Djohermansyah Djohan first appreciated the poll of experts conducted by the Populi Center. According to him, there is no doubt about the list of experts who participated in the poll, their capacity to respond to national and state issues. Therefore, the results that emerge are not surprising, and are more or less in line with what he views on the issues raised. Prof. Djohermansyah highlighted the various proposals that came in regarding the formation of a new autonomous region.
According to him, the existing proposals for division of regions have not met the proper requirements, especially at the provincial level. For the former Director General of Regional Autonomy, one of the conditions for an ideally expanded area is based on population density. He mentioned the City of Surabaya or Bogor Regency as an example of an area that, through an objective assessment, deserves to be expanded. He also emphasized that the establishment of a new autonomous region must be oriented towards optimizing public services to its people.
Prof. Djohermansyah also touched on the transfer of the National Capital (IKN). Basically, he agrees with the transfer of IKN, it's just that according to him, the term IKN Authority Body does not fit the format of government that applies in Indonesia. He agreed more with the term administrative province which is directly under the president. As for the officials, in this case the Governor and the DPRD, they are not elected through regional head elections. Regardless of the IKN issue, he believes that the assessment of democracy which is already quite good as the opinion poll results needs to be maintained in the remaining 2 years of President Joko Widodo's (Jokowi) leadership. Don't let President Jokowi make policies or steps that can reduce the quality of Indonesian democracy.
The next speaker, Prof. Nusa Bhakti Pledge, also highlights the issue of democracy. Ahead of the direct elections in 2024, an evaluation is needed to answer how far democracy in Indonesia has been established. In the case of freedom of opinion, for example, this aspect is considered to be reduced, because currently there is a tendency to be afraid in expressing opinions. He also highlighted the decline in the space for public participation in making laws (UU), especially when compared to the early reform period. Nonetheless, in general, democracy in Indonesia has been going quite well, especially when compared to the recent elections in the Philippines. The course of the election process in Indonesia is also guarded by various parties, so that there are almost no loopholes for manipulating the numbers. On this occasion he also hopes that the newly appointed KPU members will no longer flirt with political parties like in the case of Harun Masiku.
Another thing from the poll results that is of concern to Prof. Ikrar is that there is still a need for PPHN. According to him, currently PPHN is still important so that there is continuity in the direction of development. He gave an example, the Labor Party which is now in power in Australia continues what had been started by the Liberal Party in the previous government. Based on this experience, PPHN needs to be considered within the political framework of government in Indonesia.
The discussion forum this time was enlivened by a question and answer session with participants in the room zoom meetings. One of them was Anton Ishaq, a member of the Padang Pariaman Regency Bawaslu, as well as several other participants who were quite enthusiastic about holding the expert opinion poll release discussion at the Populi Forum this time. The discussion was closed with a closing statement (closing statement) of each speaker.
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