Hello friends!
I’ll be back Saturday with a deeper look at golput, but get prepared for it with this week’s episode of Indonesia dan Lain-Lain. You can listen here on Soundcloud or where ever you get your podcast fix. The Jokowi camp will hold its big rally this Sunday so we’ll talk the incumbent Monday and then ??? time to go? How is it happening already!
And remember this is FREEEEE so share and forward as you see fit.
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Thanks!
Erin Cook
(This photo doesn’t really relate to anything, I just love it)
I am so thrilled Lowy Institute let me write this piece about my favourite part of the campaign — Jan Ethes, Jokowi’s first grandchild! The toddler a) is adorable and b) tells us a lot about how Jokowi wants to present himself to the country. Please read this, it’s my new favourite story I’ve ever done and I sat in a cafe in Setiabudi the other day looking like a nutbag watching YouTube videos of him over and over.
Fadli Zon compared Prabowo’s oratory style to Nikita Khrushchev, which is dumb as hell. Who is the communist whisper campaign about?
No, no, no, we actually really do like Prabowo-Sandi, the Democratic Party says. The party is ostensibly in the coalition but beef between the two camps is the worst kept secret in town. Hashim Djojohadikusumo a few weeks promised seats in a Prabowo-led cabinet to the National Mandate Party and the Prosperous Justice Party, but the Dems hmmm not so sure. That seems to have lit a fire and Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono is making up for lost time.
This is fascinating. Indonesia is rightfully proud of having so many different languages within its borders. The KPU in Malang, East Java, is hoping that by using the local language Malangan in official information pre-elecion more voters will be engaged to come and have their say.
Golput, golput, golput. I was fascinated with this one on the 32 organisations which have banded together to back golput. These groups and individuals have been most directly disappointed by Jokowi’s pre-2014 promises to resolve human rights cases, including the wife of murdered activist Munir. That’s hard to argue against. We’ll look more at golput over the weekend.
This Sunday is the fifth and final debate. This one is on economics and I’m expecting it to be Jokowi relying on his programs and Prabowo talking pedas. Already the challenger camp is suggesting Indonesia’s FPI is on track to create another Financial Crisis a la 1997/98.
Money politics! The shadow looms darkly over Indonesia’s democracy. The practice of buying votes with small amounts of cash is a feature of elections here, and this from AFP is a comprehensive look at where we stand. Bowo Sidik Pangarso, from (who else!) Golkar, has been busted by authorities with a hell of a lot of cash and envelopes, leading investigators to assume it was for a ‘dawn attack.’ This is when candidates’ lackeys go around the neighbourhood dispensing cash in an effort to buy votes. The arrest shows that the practice is alive and well.
I think Burhanuddin Muhtadi has a book on this coming out soon which I am super keen for!
This Brookings piece from Eve Warburton and Burhanuddin Muhtadi is pumped with data on income and wealth inequality. Indonesia is now the sixth worst globally for wealth disparity. It’s not hard to see. I used to have a boss who would take a helicopter to the office, but it was the minimum wage office cleaners and errand-runners who were fired to save cash.
Voters are making their fury known. Data shows that voters who feel income inequality is unfair and worsening are more likely to be critical of Jokowi’s performance and back Prabowo. This takes a broader look at the assumptions of why voters are flocking to right-wing populist movements and candidates like Prabowo or the anti-Ahok rallies. This is a really good resource, I’m bookmarking it for good.