Politics

Jokowi: Rise of a polite populist

Jokowi’s path to the presidency might not be as smooth as it once seemed, but he is still the front runner

Election year

Edward Aspinall Indonesia’s legislative elections offer a window into the deep forces shaping the country, and a glimpse of its political future Indonesia is part way through its election year, having held its legislative elections on 9 April, and with the country now gearing up for the first round of the presidential polls in July. With more than 235,000 candidates running for seats in national, provincial and district legislatures around the country, the April poll was a massive logistical affair. It was also the culmination of years of effort, expense and stress for a huge number of people. Yet in some ways, the actual results of the election were an anti-climax.

Dancing against violence

Not even Mount Kelud erupting could stop Yogyakarta's activists from standing up against violence to women as part of One Billion Rising

Barking mad, biting back

Cultural clashes emerge as Bali struggles to eradicate rabies

Defending murder

A marriage of convenience lies behind a campaign to defend Kopassus soldiers on trial for murder in Yogyakarta

Maverick mayor to presidential hopeful

Jokowi’s record in public office justifies his strong public image

Running in style

A new bug for running points toward a new politics of lifestyle

Review: Jokowi: From Solo to Jakarta and beyond?

Bob Lowry reviews the memoir of the current Jakarta governor and likely frontrunner for the 2014 presidential elections

Sex, lies and politicians

Indonesian politicians quite often star inadvertently in porn films, but it doesn’t seem to hurt them much

Impossible ideal?

Cosmopolitanism is a dirty word in rural West Java, where creativity and new words are needed to reopen dialogue.

After justice

What happens after three police officers are found guilty of manslaughter and torture?

Stopping intolerance

Government must act to halt growing discrimination against minorities

Overprotection is not the answer

Food self-sufficiency in Indonesia is a valid problem but so far the government has only provided counterproductive solutions

Campaigning for agrarian reform

Rahmat Ajiguna talks to Eve Warburton about the need to make farmers the centre of food security in Indonesia

Rethinking Indonesia’s beef self-sufficiency agenda

The government’s latest approach is not the most effective or efficient way to promote food security

A matter of life or death for the Indonesian nation?

Hunger remains a problem in many Indonesian households

Indonesia’s new anarchists

Insurrectionary anarchists, with international connections, nihilist values and a penchant for arson, are moving to fill the vacuum on the left

Ari’s audacity

How can you be a straight cop when people just give you money?

Strange bedfellows

An unlikely alliance between former rebels and a former New Order tormentor will test the limits of Partai Aceh loyalty

More than a fatal attraction

Outsiders see arak consumption as a highly dangerous activity, but arak plays an important role in Balinese society

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A selection of stories from the Indonesian classics and modern writers, periodically published free for Inside Indonesia readers, courtesy of Lontar.