- There are three candidates running, alongside their vice presidential candidates.
- According to opinion polls, the favourite is Prabowo Subianto, leader of the Greater Indonesia Party (Gerindra), a populist and nationalist party he founded in 2008.
- Prabowo is the frontrunner, but it’s unclear whether he will win an absolute majority of votes in the first round.
By the numbers
Voters are also casting votes in parliamentary elections, which include:
580 seats in the House of Representatives (DPR), with more than 9,900 candidates
152 seats in the Regional Representative Council (DPD), designed to represent the regions, with around 670 candidates
and local parliaments in each of the 38 provinces and 416 districts.
In total, there are over 2,700 separate electoral contests being held for around 20,500 seats. All are the responsibility of Indonesia’s independent election commission (the Komisi Pemilihan Umum, or simply KPU) to administer impartially and efficiently.
Logistical nightmare
- The distance from Aceh in the west to Papua in the east is some 5,100 kilometres (3,200 miles), wider than the continental US.
- Read more:
Cute grandpa or authoritarian in waiting: who is Prabowo Subianto, the favourite to win Indonesia's presidential election?
- To get an idea of the size of the task facing the KPU, let’s look at the presidential election first.
- And they must also make choices for three other chambers – in addition to the presidential vote.
An unglamorous, but remarkable democratic achievement
- So, how well has Indonesia done in this massive task of making democratic elections work?
- In a world where democracy seems increasingly under pressure, Indonesia has managed five peaceful and democratic transfers of power.
- In comparison to neighbouring states in Southeast Asia, where one-party dominance is widespread or democratic progress has been crushed under military coups, Indonesia stands out as a bastion of democratic politics.
- Given the strains placed on the United States’ long-established democracy in recent years, Indonesia’s achievement in making elections work should not go unnoticed.
Stephen Sherlock does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
