Ehito Kimura
Twenty Years after Suharto
This edition of the Kyoto Southeast Asia Review explores the state of Indonesian politics twenty years after the fall of Suharto’s New Order. In May of 1998 massive demonstrations rocked the nation and forced Suharto’s resignation to end over 30 years of authoritarian rule. Observers at the time knew little of what to expect with opinions ranging from the collapse and splintering of Indonesia to the return of military rule to the flourishing of democracy. What has transpired over the last two decades and the shape of Indonesia’s politics today is the subject that five scholars tackle in the essays below. Paige Tan offers a big-picture overview of Indonesia’s political institutions noting that while politics remains noisy and challenged in some areas, democracy is the new normal and unlikely to be subverted despite several trips to the ‘knife’s edge.’ Tan [...]
