Juridical Implications of Indirect Regional Head Elections Through Regional People's Representative Councils: An Alternative Approach to Combating Electoral Vote Buying

Abstract

This article examines the juridical implications of regional head elections through Regional People's Representative Councils as an alternative mechanism for addressing vote-buying practices in Indonesia. Persistent electoral corruption, high political costs, patronage networks, and transactional politics have raised concerns regarding the effectiveness of direct regional head elections in promoting democratic governance. The study aims to assess the constitutional legitimacy of Regional People's Representative based elections and evaluate their potential contribution to reducing vote buying while preserving democratic principles. Employing normative legal research, the analysis utilizes statutory, conceptual, and historical approaches through the examination of constitutional provisions, legislation, legal doctrines, and scholarly literature. The findings indicate that indirect regional head elections remain constitutionally permissible because Article 18 paragraph (4) of the 1945 Constitution requires regional heads to be elected democratically without mandating a specific electoral mechanism. However, the study also finds that indirect elections do not necessarily eliminate electoral corruption, as transactional practices may shift from voters to political elites within representative institutions. The article argues that electoral reform must balance constitutional validity, democratic legitimacy, public accountability, and popular sovereignty. This study contributes to constitutional law and socio-legal scholarship by clarifying the relationship between electoral design, democratic governance, and electoral corruption in Indonesia.