Indonesia’s Presidential Election 2019 – The Big Battle for Java : Key in Struggle for Power

Indonesia has just concluded the third direct presidential election in the country’s history. Exit polls projected Jokowi’s victory with an increased proportion of votes compared to 2014. Central to this victory were Central and East Java where Jokowi enjoyed a huge jump in vote proportion despite Prabowo making inroads in other provinces. Interestingly, this year’s election mirrored the first Indonesian election in 1955

Indonesian Presidential Election 2019 – What Will Happen After the Polls?

Indonesians will go to the polls this week, on 17 April, to vote for the country’s president. This will be a repeat of the 2014 presidential contest when Joko Widodo and Prabowo Subianto first clashed. The lead-up to the elections has been marked by unprecedented divisiveness. Will Indonesians breath a sigh of relief after the elections or will the polarisation ossify

Outlook on the Indonesian parlimentary elections 2004

Indonesia will be holding a series of general elections this year. The closest of which is the parlimentary election. While much attention has ben paid on the direct presidential election, the parliamentary election is at least equally important, since only major parties or coalition of parties would be able to nominate candidates for the presidential election. Historically, the Indonesian politics have been organized around political groupings known as the aliran, espeically in conditions of unimpeded political competition. The last election in 1999 marked a return of aliran politics after a long hiatus. The election this year will not bring a major change to the structure of the aliran politics. The major parties will still be those hat have strong aliran bases, either in the nationalist, modernist Muslim or traditional Muslim camps. Having said that, the election this year will see an interesting dynamism, particularly in the nationalist camp, where the Sukarnoist parties led by the PDI-P will face challenges from some Suhartoist parties. In the modernist and traditionalist aliran, the race will be more structured and simple. A heated struggle for the non-aliran votes will occur, especially within Golkar. In the near future, a struggle for power in Golkar will take place and will probably change the outlook of the election

Outlook On The Indonesian Parliamentary Election 2004

Indonesia will be holding a series of general elections this year. The closest of which is the parliamentary election. While much attention has been paid on the direct presidential election, the parliamentary election is at least equally important, since only major parties or coalition of parties would be able to nominate candidates for the presidential election. Historically, the Indonesian politics have been organized around political groupings known as the aliran, especially in conditions of unimpeded political competition. The last election in 1999 marked a return of aliran politics after a long hiatus. The election this year will not bring a major change to the structure of the aliran politics. The major parties will still be those that have strong aliran bases, either in the nationalist, modernist Muslim or traditionalist Muslim camps. Having said that, the election this year will see an interesting dynamism, particularly in the nationalist camp, where the Sukarnoist parties led by the PDI-P will face challenges from some Suhartoist parties. In the modernist and traditionalist aliran, the race will be more structured and simple. A heated struggle for the non-aliran votes will occur, especially within Golkar. In the near future, a struggle for power in Golkar likely will take place and will probably change the outlook of the election

The elusive quest for statehood : fundamental issues of the state, political cultures and aliran politics in Indonesia

This thesis discusses the difficulties faced by the Indonesian state in its attempt to achieve a stable statehood. Three fundamental and unresolved issues have vexed the Indonesian state since the inception of the nationalist movement at the turn of last century: the state foundation (the choice between a secular arrangement or an Islamic state), regionalism (a governmental arrangement dominated by the center or a devolution of power to the regions/districts), and the degree of political competition (an authoritarian state or an open political system). Indonesia is a plural society, with hundreds of ethnic groups, speaking hundreds of languages and dialects. But throughout its history, the ethnic fault line has generally been drawn between the Javanese and the (seberang) outer islanders. The geographic distinction between the agricultural Javanese and the maritime seberang, coupled with the different extent of influence of Hindu- Buddhism, as well as Islam later on, have created divergent politico-cultural traits among these groups. These ethno-religious groups eventually manifested themselves into political groups. Earlier scholars of Indonesian studies, such as Clifford Geertz and Herbert Feith, called these groups the political aliran. There are three major aliran in Indonesia: the nationalists (Javanese-based nominal Muslims), the modernist Muslims (seberang-based purist, reformist Muslims), and the traditionalist Muslims (Javanese-based pious Muslims). Each of these groups has a major political party, supported by a network of mass social institutions, and each holds a distinctive view on the fundamental issues of statehood. Indonesian history has seen the ebb and flow of the aliran. After the heyday of "aliranism" in the 1950s, Sukarno and Suharto carried out "de-aliranization" measures in the name of "national unity", which lasted until the outbreak of Reformasi. The reform movement that helped push Suharto from office brought about a resurgence of aliran politics that had been in a state of hibernation for almost four decades. All of the important political parties that have arisen since 1998 have had an aliran cast or shape. The resurgence of the aliran has also marked a return of the debates on the three fundamental issues of the state mentioned above. This thesis has found some reasons why the resurgence of these aliran has complicated the efforts at democratization in Indonesia. All three aliran and their parties profess to want "democracy". But their respective understandings of democracy are different when it comes to the three key issues that have vexed Indonesia throughout its history.Arts, Faculty ofPolitical Science, Department ofGraduat