Indonesia a Zombie Democracy With No Spirit, Community Organization Muhammadiyah Secretary General Mu’ti

By Aanardianto for Muhammadiyah.or.id

JAKARTA — Indonesia has held six presidential elections. But the substantial value of democracy in Indonesia remains elusive. Elections seem to proceed mechanically, without any spirit.

For this reason, the Secretary General of Indonesian community organization Muhammadiyah¹ Mr. Abdul Mu’ti² referred to Indonesia’s democracy as a “zombie democracy.” It represents a democratic process that follows the existing mechanisms, but it lacks a spirit.

“Our democracy is now like a zombie democracy. It moves forward without a spirit. It operates because of existing mechanisms, but its essence is absent,” stated Mr. Mu’ti on (28/12) in Jakarta.

Despite Indonesia witnessing six presidential elections, the persistence of this zombie democracy indicates that democratic processes haven’t advanced. Instead, they seem to have regressed.

Because of this Mr. Abdul Mu’ti hopes the media can provide more that resonates with more substance for the public. He urged the media to shift away from only focusing on survey results, believing this is excessively monotonous.

Especially in reaching out to the younger generation, he suggests the need for information or news presented in a lighter, more humorous manner. Mr. Mu’ti referred to the trend of “roasting” directed by comedians at public figures, including politicians.

“Basically, we also want something lighter in politics that can get across the message that whoever wins the election, Indonesia itself should be the ultimate winner, something along those lines,” he added.

The secretary general of community organization Muhammadiyah, known for his humor, also aspires for the 2024 elections to be conducted in a way that is more fun and joyful. Elections should be portrayed as enjoyable and happy events, rather than as intimidating.

He expects positive messages embedded in the electoral process will capture the attention of the younger generation. Their interests should be accommodated in the elections, because it’s not really right to assume young people aren’t serious about these things.

“I believe if we target the young, they will also approach politics in a positive way. But the idea they are not serious is wrong. They are serious, but in their own way. This, I believe, is something we need to foster, because they constitute the largest majority of voters,” said Mr. Abdul Mu’ti.

He also advised people to see positions of authority as ordinary. The rise and fall of elected officials should be seen as natural. There shouldn’t be any sanctification, or mystification, attached to positions of authority or public officials.

This article is based on Tidak Punya Ruh, Mu’ti: Demokrasi di Indonesia seperti Demokrasi Zombi

---

Footnotes:

1. With 50 million members (2019), for some general background see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammadiyah or https://muhammadiyah.or.id/. ↩︎
2. https://www.iclrs.org/blurb/abdul-muti/; https://nasional.kompas.com/read/2022/11/20/17441651/profil-abdul-muti-yang-kembali-terpilih-jadi-sekretaris-umum-pp-muhammadiyah; https://id.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdul_Mu%E2%80%99ti ↩︎