The political legacies of transmigration and the dynamics of ethnic politics: a case study from Lampung, Indonesia

Abstract

This paper discusses the political legacies of transmigration in local elections in Indonesia. Lampung in the south of Sumatra has an unusual ethnic make-up because in the past 100 years both the Dutch colonial administration and Indonesian Government have been implementing a transmigration programme, attempting to move people from densely populated areas to less densely populated ones. Transmigration has therefore changed the demographic pattern of Lampung, with the result that native Lampungese, who were in a majority in the 1930s, had become a minority ethnic group by 2010. Since 2005, the mode of local election has been changed from indirect to direct. As a consequence of this, there is a revival of ethnic identity politics in local elections. In this paper, we focus on a transmigration affected area where the descendants of Javanese transmigrants are numerically dominant and correspondingly powerful in local politics. This research leads us to argue that, as a result of the country's decentralization policies and elections for local government offices, ethnicity has become an important factor in local elections and in transmigration affected areas has led to the political domination of Javanese transmigrant descendants in local politics. We further show how, in response to this situation, native Lampungese elites have adopted a number of strategies to help them retain a role in local politics. Our argument runs contrary to that of some scholars who have claimed that ethnicity is playing a diminishing role in Indonesian local elections.

Gotong Royong Culture as an Alternative to Political Funding in Local Election

“…Pilkada, which is held every five years, is a reflection of a democratic country in seizing positions for regional leadership. The elected regional head candidates should be those who are solutive and bring a vision and mission to solve regional problems (Adams, 2010;Fleischmann & Stein, 1998;Warganegara & Waley, 2022). In practice, not all elected candidates are capable of solving regional problems (Marschall et al, 2011;Taylor & Vanhooren, 2021).…”

“…In the struggle for the leadership of the regional head, financial capability becomes a challenge to finance the winning in the election contestation. Political funding has an important role because it intersects with many aspects of political activity (Gulzar et al, 2022;Warganegara & Waley, 2022). The high cost of politics is due to the rampant money politics and this practice is a serious problem in the democratic system in Indonesia (Noor et al, 2021;Purwaningsih & Widodo, 2021).…”

“…Funding can open up access to democratic systems, such as advertising spending, operating political parties, selecting candidates, and mobilising voters. For these reasons, political funding affects almost all aspects of democratic society (Noor et al, 2021;Warganegara & Waley, 2022).…”

The Hegemony Of The Coal Mining Corporation, The Destruction Of The Kutai Rice Barn Center And The Damage To The Living Space Of Transmigrants

“…Transmigration became the main political demographic during Suharto's reign (Warganegara & Waley, 2021). In the province of East Kalimantan alone, the local Manpower and Transmigration Office noted that as many as 299,455 household heads were accepted in 240 transmigrant settlement units spread across the province.…”

contestious dynamics of politics that occurred in the singular election

“…The absolute victory of the elections with a single candidate pair confirms that political parties hold strategic positions as democratic institutions that successfully carry and encourage someone's nomination to occupy the political office. One of the regions carrying out a single election is Regency (Warganegara & Waley, 2021). A single and incumbent candidate pair is carried by eight out of nine political parties that have seats in the Regency DPRD (bahasa: Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat Daerah).…”