Prolonged Village Leadership, Elite Conflict, and Governance Breakdown: A Qualitative Study of Political Dynamics in Sontang Village, Rokan Hulu, Indonesia
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.53905/Veritas.v1i03.9Keywords:
village leadership, local democracy, political conflict, power, village governance, Sontang VillageAbstract
Purpose of the study: Leadership succession at the village level is a crucial indicator of local democracy, institutional accountability, and public trust. The case of Sontang Village is academically important because its village head remained in office for approximately twenty-one years, despite successive regulatory changes that emphasized direct elections and fixed terms of office. This study aims to explain the political dynamics of the Sontang village head leadership during 1990-2011 and to identify the internal and external factors that shaped the prolonged leadership crisis.
Methodology: A qualitative descriptive case-study design was employed. Data were derived from in-depth interviews with village elites, community representatives, village officials, and local government actors, supported by documentary analysis of statutory regulations, village records, and relevant secondary literature. Data were analysed through data reduction, chronological coding, thematic categorisation, triangulation, and interpretive synthesis.
Results: The findings show that the political dynamics emerged through four sequential phases: initial acclamation and charismatic legitimacy, extension of authority without competitive election, increasing elite contestation, and conflict escalation leading to the formation of a rival village administration. Internal drivers included centralised leadership style, prolonged concentration of power, declining public service responsiveness, and competing elite interests. External drivers involved inconsistent implementation of village-governance regulations and weak supervision by district and subdistrict authorities.
Conclusions: The Sontang case demonstrates that prolonged leadership without institutionalised electoral renewal can erode legitimacy, intensify elite competition, weaken administrative order, and generate dualism in village governance. Strengthening term-limit enforcement, participatory deliberation, public-service accountability, and conflict mediation mechanisms is essential for preventing similar governance crises in rural Indonesia.
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