Zakharov Anton

Wife a Position? Legal Practice in the Indonesian Award System

ЮГО-ВОСТОЧНАЯ АЗИЯ: АКТУАЛЬНЫЕ ПРОБЛЕМЫ РАЗВИТИЯ, 2023, №4(60), 202-220

 
Annotation: Award system functioning implies many legal practices which cannot be found in official documents but influence nominating, assigning, presenting and wearing awards. The paper examines the origins of one of the award legal customs of Indonesia—awarding the highest orders of the state—the Star of the Republic of Indonesia (Bintang Republik Indonesia) and the Star of Mahaputera (Bintang Mahaputera)—to the spouses of presidents, vice-presidents and senior officials. The main sources are lists of holders of the highest orders published by the State Secretariat of Indonesia and media reports about recent awards. The origins of the legal custom go back to the era of the “new order” of General Suharto who awarded his wife and then bestowed orders to the wives of his vice-presidents. In the 1990s, along with the wives of vice presidents, the highest orders began to be awarded to the wives of ministers. This practice survived under President Bacharuddin Jusuf Habibie, but disappeared under President Abdurrahman Wahid. The revival of awards to the spouses of the president and vice president occurred under President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in 2011. This legal practice continues under President Joko Widodo. The restoration of awards to the wives of ministers seems probable if the need arises for symbolic support for the regime. The paper also contains up-to-date, although not always complete statistics due to the paucity of open data, on awards of the Star of the Republic of Indonesia, the Star of Mahaputera, and the Star of Service (Bintang Jasa).

Keywords: Indonesia, state, award system, nepotism, hierarchy, legal practice, orders, wives