OLD RIVALRIES, NEW GAME: INDONESIA’S MATURING DEMOCRACY

Abstract

Democratic regression has been a hot topic in Southeast Asia but has seemingly afflicted Indonesia to a lesser extent. This resilience in Indonesia’s democracy after the fall of the New Order has been intriguing and I intend to find out if the reason for this is due to Indonesia’s strong religious roots in its democratic system, which creates a secular-religious divide, therefore building political coalitions and factions which are useful for political participation in a parliamentary democracy. Starting with an introduction to the sociopolitical arrangements of the Dutch, the differing development of secular and religious nationalism in World War Two, this piece will continue by explaining Sukarno’s brief foray into a liberal democracy, then Guided Democracy and finally Suharto’s New Order era. Most importantly, all of these events have created an Indonesia where the secular nationalists have triumphed in politics. However, under Suharto’s watch, religion has been brought back into the open in the later years. With this secular-religious divide being brought down into contemporary times, this is then used by modern-day parliamentary democracy to stir up the effect of political tribes that are actively utilised in modern political participation. I will then show that it is precisely this religious divide coupled with the co-opting of Islam into a democracy that has made Indonesia’s democracy full of competitive vitality. Finally, I examine the new hybrid threats to Indonesian democracy that may stress the durability of Indonesia’s democracy in an “undemocratic” region.