Indonesia eyes another 'death of democracy'

Across the Western world, countries are bracing for a collapse of democracy that hasn't been experienced in living memory. In other parts of the world, it's a cycle they're familiar with.

I’ve been spending a week in Indonesia this month, part of a larger trip to learn what people in the Global South are making of the Global North’s recent struggles with democracy and the rule of law. Indonesia is just one of the 90 countries holding elections this year, making 2024 the biggest election year in world history. Half the world’s population will be eligible to vote, including in seven of the world’s ten most populous countries. And at least one of those elections, America’s, could change the world as we know it.

Here in Indonesia, the Valentine’s Day presidential election (14 February) is a choice between a military strongman, Prabowo Subianto, who is the son-in-law of the country’s former dictator Suharto and two men who are more or less committed to Indonesia’s fledgling democracy most recently built by the outgoing president Joko Widodo (Jokowi), who is constitutionally prevented from seeking a third term. And like in other parts of the world, polling indicates that people are gravitating to the strongman and arguments about preserving democracy and rule of law are falling on deaf ears. With just a few weeks to go, Prabowo is the clear frontrunner.