From Populist to Meritocracy: The Urgency of Meritocracy as The First Step Towards A Quality Parliament in Indonesia

Abstract

The phenomenon of populism in Indonesian electoral politics has raised concerns about the decline in parliamentary quality, as the legislative candidate selection process is increasingly determined by popularity, media image, and populist promises, rather than the candidate's competence and integrity. This paper highlights the urgency of implementing the principle of meritocracy as a solution to building a more qualified, responsive, and long-term public interest-oriented parliament. Through a literature review and analysis of legislative recruitment practices, both in Indonesia and comparative studies such as in Singapore, this article demonstrates that a merit-based political recruitment system can produce more professional, accountable, and productive legislators. Meritocracy not only strengthens legislative and oversight functions but also encourages a more substantive democracy. Therefore, political party reform, increasing public political literacy, and a more transparent and capability-based candidate selection mechanism are urgent initial steps to shift the orientation of electoral politics from populism to meritocracy.