The 2018 regional elections brought victories for several candidates who have made a name for themselves as innovative and reform-oriented. Thanks to their successes in raising living standards, making local bureaucracies more efficient and creating urgently needed public spaces, young leaders such as Ridwan Kamil, Ganjar Pranowo, Nurdin Abdullah and Bima Arya Sugiarto won convincing election victories in some of Indonesia’s most populous regions.
But can this new breed of local leaders really change entrenched patterns of politics in Indonesia? How do they navigate established patronage channels? And how do they see their place within the broader political environment in Indonesia today?
In Talking Indonesia this week, Dr Dirk Tomsa discusses these and other questions with one of these young politicians, Dr Bima Arya Sugiarto, the recently re-elected mayor of Bogor.
In 2018, the Talking Indonesia podcast is co-hosted by Dr Dirk Tomsa from La Trobe University, Dr Dave McRae from the University of Melbourne’s Asia Institute, Dr Jemma Purdey from Monash University, and Dr Charlotte Setijadi from the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore.
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 Bima Arya Sugiarto.
