Appreciating Indonesia’s Democratic Election

Some people, primarily among the international community, question whether the 2019 Indonesian elections will be free and fair, void of voter irregularities and/or  violence. But are these concerns well-grounded? Do we need to be worried? Shawn believes that these concerns are reasonable but unfounded. We take a look at Indonesia’s recent history in 1998 and appreciate how far the country has come in terms of its democratic elections. In addition, we will discuss whether the new shift to a concurrent election system will cause major disruptions during the election process itself. | Episode Details: 0.05 - 3.35: Concerns from the international community regarding the Indonesian election | 3.40 - 5.38: History of Indonesia’s democratic reform in 1998; Consequences of Soeharto’s downfall; Military's role in parliament | 6.05 - 7.43: Four Presidents in four years; Democracy and instability | 7.54 - 11.30: The return of a free and fair general election in 1999; Military withdrawal from parliament; Shift from centralised government to regional autonomy | 11.45 - 14.57: Uncertainties after five years of instability; Some longing for the old days of Soeharto| 14.58 - 15.25: Indonesia’s first directly-elected presidential, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono; The first democratically-elected presidential transition in 2014| 15.27 - 18.04: Putting Indonesia’s remarkable democratic progress into context; Response to the concerns of the 2019 election| 18.25 - 21.33: Potential issues with the new simultaneous election | 21.35 - 22.33: Closing | Podcast hosts: Shawn Corrigan & Tanita| Read text version of this episode: www.indonesiaindepth.com| Say hi to us! Email: [email protected]| Twitter: @IndoIndepth | LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/shawn-corrigan/| We are also available on Spotify, iTunes, Soundcloud, Google Music and on Amazon’s Alexa!