The Extension of Village Head Terms and the Principles of Power Limitation and Government Accountability

Abstract

The 1998 reform became a turning point in the Indonesian constitutional system, including strengthening the importance of democracy, limiting power, and accountability in the administration of government, including at the village level. This change has an impact on the regulation of the term of office of the Village Head which continues to grow until the enactment of Law Number 3 of 2024 concerning the Second Amendment to Law Number 6 of 2014 concerning Villages which regulates the term of office for 8 (eight) years in one period. The change is part of an open legal policy which is based on consideration of the effectiveness of village government. However, this policy was born in the midst of still high cases of abuse of authority and corruption crimes involving village heads. Meanwhile, the regulation of the term of office should be in line with the principle of limitation of power and accountability as part of a democratic legal state. This research is a normative legal research. The formulation of the problem in this study: 1) Why is the term of office of the Village Head extended in Law Number 3 of 2024 concerning the second amendment to Law Number 6 of 2014 concerning Villages? 2) How are the implications of extending the term of office of the Village Head reviewed from the principle of limiting the power and accountability of village government? The results of the study show that the extension of the term of office of the village head in Law Number 3 of 2024 concerning the Second Amendment to Law Number 6 of 2014 concerning Villages is motivated by considerations, namely the fulfillment of the aspirations of the village head and the village community, increasing the effectiveness of the implementation of government and village development, and realizing the stability of the implementation of village government. The previous term of office was considered not optimal to carry out development and community empowerment programs in a sustainable manner. With a longer term of office, the Village Head is considered to have more adequate time to plan, implement, and complete village development programs. This extension of office also has implications from the principle of power limitation. Longer terms of office have the potential to increase the abuse of authority, reduce the frequency of democratic participation through the election of village heads, and hinder leadership regeneration at the village level. When viewed from the accountability of village government, the positive implications of extending the term of office can support the continuity of development programs, and have a long time to realize optimization in the implementation of village government. Then negative implications are in the form of reduced frequency of evaluation by the community through the election of village heads, as well as weakening public control over the implementation of village government.