Documentary Screening and Discussion “Dirty Vote”
May 29 @ 5:30 pm - 8:00 pm
Event Background
On 29 May at 5.30-8.00 pm the Indonesian documentary Dirty Vote will be screened at SEA Junction. This documentary has been a controversial hit when it was released on YouTube few days before the Presidential Election held on 14 February 2024 in Indonesia and got 20 million viewers in the first two weeks. Directed by Dandhy Dwi Laksono, the documentary features three Indonesian constitutional law experts, namely Bivitri Susanti, Feri Amsari, and Zainal Arifin Mochtar sharing their views and analysis on the upcoming election and particularly the unfairly use of power to influence vote. The three legal experts presented evidence to argue that systematic interference and misuse of State resources would affect the election results thus undermining the democratic order Indonesians had fought hard to achieve for the sake of defence of the status quo.
A recent Constitutional Court decision, with a vote of 5 to 3, has rejected the claims of massive fraud by the two loosing presidential candidates, their supporters and other concerned parties. The election results and the victory of Prabowo Subianto and Gibran Rakabuming Raka as President and Vice President of Indonesia were thus confirmed. Still, many continue to believe that a strategic factor in determining the elections has been the backing by the current President Joko Widodo, popularly known as Jokowi, and his apparat. To start with, as also discussed in the documentary, such pairing of candidates was made possible by the dubious and, later found “unethical”, clearing of the President’s son as vice-presidential candidate by the same constitutional court at the time chaired by the President’s brother–in-law.
What these developments imply for Indonesia’s governance and democracy in the future will be the topic of discussion with the constitutional expert and one of the three speakers in the documentary Dirty Vote Feri Amsari and the writer and analyst Michael Vatikiotis.
Speakers’s Bio
Feri Amsari is a constitutional law expert graduated from the William and Mary Law School in the United States, legal activist, lecturer and academic from the Faculty of Law, Andalas University, where he was until recently former Director of the Center for Constitutional Studies (PUSaKO). He is also active in writing about law, politics and statehood in various print media including in the daily Kompas, Padang Ekspres, Singgalang, and Haluan and has a popular YouTube channel “Constitutional Law Corner” at @feriamsari5508
Michael Vatikiotis is a graduate of the School of Oriental and African Studies in London and gained his doctorate from the University of Oxford. He is a member of the Asia Society’s International Council and has a decade of experience working as a private diplomat for the Geneva-based Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue. He is a former BBC journalist who has worked in Asia for over thirty years, living in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Hong Kong. He is the author of various books on Southeast Asia including “Blood and Silk; Power and Conflict in Southeast Asia” as well as two novels set in Indonesia. Most recently he has written “Lives Between The Lines: A Journey in Search of the Lost Levant” on the journey of his forebears.
For information/reservation for our events please email: info@seajunction.org or phone/wa: +66970024140
NB: The event is free, but donations are welcome to support SEA Junction activities.
Organizer:
SEA Junction, established under the Thai non-profit organization Foundation for Southeast Asia Studies (ForSEA), aims to foster understanding and appreciation of Southeast Asia in all its socio-cultural dimensions, from arts and lifestyles to economy and development. Conveniently located at Room 407 and 408 of the Bangkok Arts and Culture Center or BACC (across MBK, BTS National Stadium), SEA Junction facilitates public access to knowledge resources and exchanges among students, practitioners and Southeast Asia lovers. For more information, see www.seajunction.org, join the Facebook group: http://www.facebook.com/groups/1693058870976440/ and follow us on Twitter and Instagram @seajunction.
