By Justin Zhang
When was the last time you thought about Indonesia? The island nation, just a few hundred kilometres north of the Northern Territory shoreline, is one of the most underrepresented regional powers in the world. It comprises nearly 280 million people living on about 18110 islands wedged between the Indian and Pacific Oceans, making it the 14th largest country in the world. Despite having more than ten times the population of Australia, it has a slightly smaller economy and 14 times less average income.
This year, the country has had its general elections, choosing the next President of Indonesia among other titles throughout the provinces. However, Indonesia’s democracy is known for corruption, nepotism, inexperience and suppression of dissent. Historically, Indonesia has been prone to several dictatorships, which I will elaborate on. This year’s election winner is Prabowo Subianto, currently Minister for Defence, and his vice-president Gibran Rakabuming Raka, son of outgoing president Joko Widodo. The candidate and his party, the Gerindra Party, have promised to ‘keep things as they are’, continuing the last government’s policies. Subianto has previously run three other times, pushing a ‘strongman’ attitude and hardline view on politics, but he has changed his approach to garner more votes in this election.
Even so, there are multiple controversies regarding the candidacy of Subianto. Formerly, during the previous Indonesian dictatorship of Suharto, Subianto ordered a brutal crackdown among protestors that saw many imprisoned or murdered. Many friends and relatives of the people who was affected by Subianto’s participation in the dictatorship regime are speaking out about his human rights violations. Even worse, Subianto is also under investigation for the distribution of funds during the COVID-19 pandemic. Subianto’s running mate, Gibran Raka, is the son of the previous president, and so has significant political leverage among voters. As a 36-year-old, he should be outlawed from becoming vice-president as there is a minimum age requirement of 40. However, his uncle-in-law who was the Chief Justice of Indonesia changed the constitution to allow people of his age. These controversies have plagued the election with several protests. Despite this, Indonesia overwhelmingly supports the candidacy of Subianto as shown by the millions of people who voted for him. Indonesian-Australian relations are also likely to improve as Subianto has stated his supports for military deals between the two countries.