Horse-trading suspected in village head term extension

After thousands of village heads across Indonesia held a protest in front of the House of Representatives last week demanding a longer term in office, policymakers are signaling that they might agree to extend the tenure to nine years. But observers question the political motives behind the move, occurring as Indonesia enters a political year, and the risk to democracy it poses.

Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) politician Budiman Sudjatmiko was quick to claim that President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo supported the idea of extending the tenure, saying that all that was left was to discuss the matter with the House, Kompas.com reported. He made the claim after meeting with Jokowi last week.

Answering questions from reporters on Tuesday, Jokowi made no mention of supporting the extension, only that the authority lay with the House. "All aspirations should be communicated to the House, but the law is clear, six-year terms and for three periods. [Any revision] will have to be processed by the House.