JAKARTA — Fifteen years after the overthrow of strongman Suharto, and less than a year before Indonesia’s first transition between two directly-elected presidents, leaders that bear little resemblance to their predecessors are emerging in this young democracy of more than 240 million people.
They are mayors, governors and technocrats with a reputation for clean hands in a country dogged by corruption. Many have risen with little money and few connections in a political system where leaders traditionally hail from the military or dynastic families.
On the main island of Java, the political and financial heart of a near trillion-dollar economy, a dozen new faces are redefining expectations of public service.
The most prominent of them is Mr Joko Widodo, former Mayor of Solo, a small city in Central Java where he earned a following by cutting through red tape and boosting transparency.
His inexpensive campaign in the capital of Jakarta a year ago secured him the country’s most important gubernatorial seat.
For the plain-talking Mr Widodo, popularly known as Jokowi, who now tops polls of potential presidential candidates for next year’s elections, though he has not said if he would run, the difference is simple.
Voters have moved on from the euphoric days following Suharto’s downfall in 1998 when election turnouts were near 90 per cent, and have become more demanding about good governance.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono won the first direct elections in 2004 on an anti-corruption campaign. Five years later, he won a landslide re-election largely for delivering on services like cash handouts to the poor.
His popularity, however, has plunged as his party has been hit by corruption scandals, and his leadership has weakened as the end of his term draws near.
At the regional level, there are some Jokowis in the making. In Indonesia’s second city, Surabaya, the country’s first directly-elected female Mayor, Ms Tri Rismaharini, has earned a following — and political enemies — for decisions such as rejecting a downtown toll-road project and rerouting it to the city’s outskirts.
When the Governor of East Java province told the city to shut down its red-light district almost overnight, Ms Rismaharini also reasoned that it could only be done gradually, by teaching sex workers new skills.
Other young politicians are getting a chance too.
In Bandung, a city south-east of Jakarta that has long been considered one of the worst-governed municipalities, Mr Ridwan Kamil, a former architect, entered office last month pledging to tackle floods and improve public transport.
Indonesia has enjoyed a decade of stability even as it has been plagued by endemic corruption, wide inequality and infrastructure woes. Labour unions are growing. The press is free. Elections are largely fair.
For all those gains, the country is at a critical juncture.
Democracy is messy in a country that encompasses three time zones and dozens of ethnic groups and main languages.
The economy has been one of the world’s fastest-growing in recent years, but has begun to sputter because of lacklustre global demand.
Religious intolerance is also rising in the world’s most populous Muslim country, long celebrated for its moderate brand of Islam. Transparency remains poor.
Other young leaders point to problems with education, especially important as the country integrates with the global economy.
Another challenge is Indonesia’s old guard. The largest political parties are still controlled by leaders dating back to the Suharto era, and they have raised barriers to new entrants to the national political stage.
Still, the world’s largest archipelago nation has not broken apart. The military did not take control. Elections have not been bought and sold wholesale.
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