INDONESIA'S 2019 ELECTIONS: A FRACTURED DEMOCRACY?

• Published in: Asian affairs (London) 2019-08, Vol.50 (4), p.502-519
• Main Authors: Fionna, Ulla, Hutchinson, Francis E.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 2019; Campaigns; Competence; Councillors; Democracy; elections; Fractured; Indonesia; Joko Widodo; Jokowi; Legislatures; Local authorities; PDI-P; Polls & surveys; Prabowo; Presidential elections; Provinces; Voters
• ISSN: 0306-8374; 1477-1500
• DOI: 10.1080/03068374.2019.1672400

In April 2019, Indonesia carried out simultaneous presidential and legislative elections. With an estimated 192 million voters acceding to 800,000 polling stations, this was the world's largest direct presidential election. Barring some dispersed claims of irregularities, the mammoth task of electing public representatives at the national as well as provincial and local levels was successfully carried out. Indonesia's voters had to decide on the 575 members of the national parliament, as well as some 20,000 seats in the country's many provincial and local legislatures, including 2,207 provincial level MPs from 34 provinces and 17,610 local councillors from more than 500 local authorities. Voter turn-out was an estimated 81.9 percent, the highest yet since Indonesia's transition to full democracy. Thus, at first blush, this electoral exercise can be seen as a logistical and political achievement, and an addition to Indonesia's track record of successfully-held elections. Yet, despite its technical proficiency and solid participation, the 2019 polls highlight pervasive societal and geographic fault-lines and raise questions about the strength of Indonesia's democratic institutions. In order to analyse the importance of these elections, this article is comprised of six parts. Following this introduction, the second section briefly discusses the salient aspects of Jokowi's first administration. The subsequent part sets out the run-up to the presidential campaign, paying particular importance to changes in 'rules of the game' that altered the structural dynamics of the elections. The fourth section compares and contrasts the campaigns of the two opposing coalitions and the fifth analyses the electoral results. The final section concludes by discussing the denouement of the elections before looking forward.