In early August, Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and Prabowo Subianto registered as the only candidates for Indonesia’s 2019 Presidential Election, repeating their head-to-head showdown from 2014.
Much has changed in Indonesia’s political landscape over the past five years. For one, both men have new running mates. Jokowi is no longer a new entrant to national politics – he will enter 2019 with a five-year track record to defend, focused on infrastructure and social spending. The massive Islamist mobilisation in 2016 against then Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama also continues to reverberate through the political system. Further, 2019 will be the first time that the legislative and presidential elections will be held on the same day – 17 April – owing to a Constitutional Court decision ordering that these elections no longer be held several months apart.
In this week’s Talking Indonesia podcast, Dr Dave McRae discusses the electoral landscape nine months out from next year’s polls with leading political observer Associate Professor Marcus Mietzner from the Australian National University’s Coral Bell School of Asia Pacific Affairs. Marcus is currently a visiting fellow at Kyoto University.
In 2018, the Talking Indonesia podcast is co-hosted by Dr Dave McRae from the University of Melbourne’s Asia Institute, Dr Jemma Purdey from Monash University, Dr Charlotte Setijadi from the Singapore Management University and Dr Dirk Tomsa from La Trobe University.
Look out for a new Talking Indonesia podcast every fortnight. Catch up on previous episodes here, subscribe via iTunes or listen via your favourite podcasting app.
Photo by Puspa Perwitasari for Antara.
