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2014 - Elections

Indonesia is a multi-party democracy. In 2014 voters elected Joko Widodo (commonly known as Jokowi) as president. Domestic and international observers judged the 2014 legislative and presidential elections free and fair. Authorities generally maintained effective control over security forces.

The government failed to conduct transparent, public investigations into some allegations of unjustified killings, torture, and abuse by security forces. The government applied treason, blasphemy, defamation and decency laws to limit freedom of expression and assembly by peaceful independence advocates, religious and social minority groups, and others. Despite high profile arrests and convictions, widespread corruption in the government, judiciary, and security forces remained a problem.

Police inaction, lack of protections for religious and social minorities, abuse of prisoners and detainees, harsh prison conditions, trafficking in persons, child labor, and failure to enforce labor standards and worker rights continued as problems. On some occasions the government punished officials who committed abuses, but judicial sentencing often was not commensurate with the severity of offenses, as was true in other types of crimes.

Individuals and organizations have the right to criticize the government publicly and privately and could discuss almost all matters of public interest without reprisal. The law criminalizes content that advocates separatism. Some NGOs and other organizations alleged government monitoring of their organizations, and government application of treason laws in cases of peaceful calls for separatism in Papua limited the rights of individuals to engage in speech deemed to be proseparatist. After the peaceful separatist organization National Committee for West Papua (KNPB) called for a boycott of the 2014 elections, NGOs reported as many as 36 persons were arrested in the period before the presidential election for distributing proboycott materials or otherwise advocating for a boycott. Most were later released without charge. In August, 11 KNPB members were arrested in Asmat for attempting to establish a branch office of their organization.

In 2012 the DPR increased the vote threshold for parties to qualify for a seat in the legislature to 3.5 percent. Ten parties met this threshold in the 2014 elections. The top four vote-getters were nationalist parties, followed by four Islamic-oriented parties. President Jokowi’s Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle won the most seats, followed by the Party of Functional Groups (Golkar), and Prabowo Subianto’s Great Indonesia Movement (Gerindra) party.

All adult citizens, age 17 or older, are eligible to vote except police and active members of the military, convicts serving a sentence of five years or more, persons suffering from mental disorders, and persons deprived of voting rights by an irrevocable verdict of a court of justice. Married juveniles (i.e., those under age 17) are legally adults and are allowed to vote.

On 26 September 2014, the DPR passed legislation abolishing direct elections for local officials. The legislation allows local elected assemblies to appoint local officials instead, a system that was used until 2005. Outgoing President Yudhoyono issued a presidential decree that temporarily blocked implementation of the new legislation, and the new legislature was to take up the issue again within three months. Polls showed direct elections had broad public support.

In Papua the separatist group KNPB called for a boycott of the 2014 elections, and some political prisoners chose not to cast their votes. According to observers the boycott was not effective and did not affect the election results. NGOs reported that as many as 36 persons were arrested for activities advocating for a boycott.

As of 2012 President Yudhoyono's Partai Demokrat (PD) held 148 of the 560 seats in the House of Representatives (DPR), making it the largest political party represented in the legislature. Partai Demokrat has a coalition with Golkar and four Islam-oriented parties. The coalition holds a majority of the seats in the DPR.

Megawati Sukarnoputri dominated the opposition party that opinion polls show was likely to top the 09 April 2014 parliamentary election. She also has, if she chooses, the candidate whom polls showed would sweep aside all other contenders in the presidential election three months later. But the 67-year-old daughter of the country's founding president is said to want the top job herself, although the chances of her winning it are slim. Opinion polls showed President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's Democratic Party was not expected to fair well after a string of high-level corruption scandals.

Indonesia's main opposition party took the most votes according to early results from the 09 April 2014 parliamentary election. Unofficial tallies showed the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) will receive close to 20 percent of the vote, followed by the Golkar party and the Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerinda). More than 200,000 candidates from 12 parties were competing for 20,000 seats in national and regional legislatures.

Stocks fell more than three percent in Indonesia following a weaker than expected parliamentary election performance by the country's main opposition party. The PDI-P's candidate, Jakarta Governor Joko Widodo, was still expected to become Indonesia's next president. But many investors fear that a power-sharing deal could complicate economic reforms they feel are needed to further grow Southeast Asia's largest economy. Widodo, known as "Jokowi," represents a welcome change for many Indonesians. The ex-furniture businessman has a reputation for transparency and a hands-on approach to governance.

The ex-general Prabowo Subianto, patron figure of Great Indonesia Movement (Gerindra) Party, was fully supported by coalition of seven parties joined in Red and White coalition. Allegations that Subianto committed human rights abuses escalated 19 June 2014, as his former military boss released details of an investigation into the kidnappings of activists during a civilian uprising in the late 1990s. Retired military chief Wiranto, who backs Prabowo's top political rival, said in a televised news conference Thursday that he discharged Prabowo from his position as lieutenant general after an internal military investigation showed he ordered the arrests of 23 activists, 13 of whom remain missing. One was found dead.

The presidential election on 09 July 2014, between the popular governor of Jakarta, Joko "Jokowi" Widodo, and former general Prabowo Subianto, would determine who would lead the archipelago over the next five years. Some 186 million people were eligible to vote. Parties need 25 percent of the national vote or 20 percent of the seats in parliament to be able to field a presidential candidate on their own. Otherwise a coalition must be formed with one or more parties. If the results are confirmed, PDI-P will most likely need to partner with another group to allow its star candidate, Jakarta governor Joko Widodo, to run in July's presidential election. Widodo, known as "Jokowi," was popular for his reputation for transparency and his hands-on approach to governance.

Indonesia's presidential election was too close to call, according to regional analysts. Prabowo made stamping out government corruption a focal point of his candidacy, and despite allegations of corruption, he appeared to have gained the upper hand on that issue. Many business leaders though remained unconvinced, warning they would leave Indonesia if Prabowo won the election for fear of corruption. Having performed well in televised debates, Prabowo's personality and constant campaigning appear to have given him good traction, but Joko had his best debate performance during the final debate. Some pollsters gave Jakarta governor Joko Widodo a slight edge over former military general Prabowo Subianto in Wednesday's vote, but nothing is certain they say. Polls indicated 10 percent of the voters were still undecided and their choice would likely decide the fate of this election.

With more than 80 percent of the votes counted, unofficial results from the poll indicated Jakarta Governor Joko Widodo, also known as Jokowi, led ex-army General Prabowo Subianto. The quick count, based on a sample of votes and conducted by the reputable Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) put Widodo in front with 52.74 percent of the vote against Prabowo with 47.26 percent. The two quick counts that showed Prabowo in front, conducted by Puskaptis and the Indonesia Voice Network, were seen as less credible than CSIS. Official results were expected to be announced on 21 July 2014.

After a drawn-out election process and dual claims to the presidency, on 22 July 2014 Indonesia officially announced Joko Widodo, widely known as Jokowi, as the country’s next president. Widodo won 53 percent of the vote. In an impassioned speech just hours before the official results were announced, former army General Prabowo Subianto declared he was pulling out of the race. Subianto said the election was neither clean, nor fair and was tainted by widespread fraud. Subianto said he would challenge the result at the country's Constitutional Court. Widodo and his running mate Jusuf Kalla, set to be inaugurated on October 20, will lead Indonesia for the next five years.