
Indonesia’s Path Between the Reefs
This week, Indonesia heads to the polls to elect a new president. Any exercise of democracy in this sprawling, diverse archipelago nation—the world’s fourth most populous country—is nearly continental in scale. Several candidates are vying to replace the popular president, Joko Widodo, known as Jokowi, who has ruled the country for the last decade but must now step down owing to term limits. The campaign has seen three main rival coalitions spar over the place of dynasties in Indonesian politics (Jokowi’s son is the running mate of Prabowo Subianto, the leading presidential contender, who had lost twice to Jokowi but now has the president’s full backing) and over other issues of importance to the public, including the appropriate role for government in driving economic growth and questions about foreign investment.… Seguir leyendo »