Indonesian Elections
Indonesia: policy missing in talk of politics
Indonesia’s second presidential debate might be a source of amusement for many Indonesian voters, thanks to the colourful exchange between the incumbent Joko Widodo (Jokowi) and…
Indonesia’s election debates: there’s substance in the style
With the slick presenters, questions pulled out of a fishbowl, and baritone voice-overs, the casual viewer might have thought this was a game show rather than a political battle…
What the Jakarta election tells us about the 2019 presidential race
Last week's gubernatorial election in Jakarta saw Governor Basuki Tjahja Purnama, better known by the sobriquet ‘Ahok’, dumped from office in favour of Islamic…
Commentary
Why the Jakarta election result could be bad news for Jokowi
Originally published in the Sydney Morning Herald. Photo: Getty Images/Oscar Siagian
Matthew Busch
Jokowi makes a political spectacle of executions
It's hard to believe that just four months after President Jokowi swept to power on a wave of disillusionment with Indonesia's politics, his predecessor Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono…
Quick Comment: Jokowi should enjoy the party while he can
As Catriona Croft-Cusworth’s commentary and photos showed, there is a celebratory mood in Jakarta this week with the inauguration of Jokowi as Indonesia’s new president. In the…
Jokowi's maritime inaugural address
The inauguration speech of Indonesia's 7th President, Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo, was powerful despite its brevity, or perhaps because of it. It contained a striking blend of personal…
Indonesia's economy at a crossroads
With the passing of the presidential baton from Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to Joko Widodo just a month away, Indonesia is at a political crossroad, with the first clear break from…
The very public flaying of Marty Natalegawa
As jockeying intensifies for ministerial appointments in President-elect Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo's new cabinet, divisions and dissatisfaction within Indonesia's Ministry of Foreign…
Indonesia: Dispelling the ghosts of '98
Police and students during the 1998 Jakarta riots. (Wikipedia.)
Twice in the past two months the spectre of the 1998 riots in Jakarta has been raised, and twice it has been…