Concerns Rise for Indonesian Democracy in New Government

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Asia Sentinel the rising concerns on Prabowo’s consolidation of power which may potentially take place once he comes into office this October.

Prabowo, a one-time general and commander of Indonesia’s Special Forces and now defense minister, won a landslide victory with 58.6 percent of the vote in the 2024 presidential election, taking Jokowi's son, Gibran Rakabuming, as his running mate and overpowering his opponents to eliminate the need for a second round of voting. That has soured relations between Jokowi and his party, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), which he abandoned in the February national polls, The PDIP subsequently picked the former governor of Central Java, Ganjar Pranowo. Voters, whose numbers were swelled by the young who had no memory of previous events, ignored charges that Prabowo had committed human rights violations during the final days of the New Order government of the strongman Suharto, whose daughter he married and subsequently divorced.

At least nine parties are already in in the ranks of Prabowo's government coalition, including four parliamentary parties (Gerindra, Golkar, PAN, and Democrat), and five which are not, PBB, PSI, Gelora, Garuda, and Prima. If PKB and NasDem join forces, the government coalition will be even more dominant with a total of 417 seats in the House of Representatives, leaving only PDI-P and the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) in opposition with 163. Many are afraid that without a strong opposition force, opposing voices to government policies will be steamrollered.