Indonesia is a presidential democratic republic located in Southeast Asia. With its 17,508 islands – of which only 7,000 are inhabited – it is the largest archipelago state in the world. The capital, Jakarta, is located on the island of Java. The other main islands are Sumatra, Kalimantan, New Guinea and Sulawesi. Due to the peculiar position between Asia and Oceania, Indonesia is considered a transcontinental state. For Indonesia government and politics, please check a2zgov.com.
A country traditionally in the orbit of Holland, which maintained its control albeit under different administrative forms from 1602 to the end of the Second World War, Indonesia became formally independent in 1945. The protagonist of the struggle was Kusno Sosrodihardjo, known as Sukarno, leader of the Indonesian Movement for Independence, which received the support of Japan. Sukarno maintained the role of president from 1945 to 1967. His government was centered on an original political philosophy, a marriage of Marxism, democracy and Islam, founded on five pillars: nationalism, internationalism, representative democracy, social justice and Islam.. The Sukarno era was crossed by numerous attempts at destabilization: for this reason,ki), while deepening ties with China and the Soviet Union.
In 1965 Sukarno was removed in a US-backed military coup. In his place, General Haji Mohammad Suharto became president, who remained in office for the next thirty years. The Suharto era was characterized by an increasing openness to foreign investment, which pushed economic growth and reduced poverty. At the same time, however, the Suharto presidency was characterized by nepotism and patronage: monopolies and subsidies were distributed to members of the president’s family or to collaborators. In addition, the regime was characterized by the harsh repression of political opponents.
Popular protests following the effects of the economic crisis that hit Southeast Asia in 1997 led to Suharto’s resignation in 1998. The period between 1998 and 2001 was characterized by marked instability, which saw three presidents rise to power. The latest, Megawati Sukarnoputri, daughter of Sukarno, gave way in 2004 to Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, democratically elected president and reconfirmed in the 2009 elections and predecessor of the current president Joko Widodo.
From the point of view of international relations, the country remains on good terms with both the United States and China and is part of the most important forum of international economic powers, the G20. In the region, it has difficult relations with Australia, accused in 2013 of spying on the telephone conversations of senior Indonesian officials, while relations with Singapore have improved after the agreement signed in September 2014 on the definition of maritime borders. On the other hand, the question of West Papua remains open, which has been fighting for its independence for years and is a potential threat to Indonesian stability.
Institutional organization and internal politics
The Indonesian political system experienced a phase of liberalization following the departure of President Suharto. In 1999, a season of political reform began which lasted until 2002 and which led to the revision and amendment of the Constitutional Charter in a more liberal sense. Today, Indonesia is called a presidential republic ‘with parliamentary characteristics’. The president, who has been directly elected by the people since 2004, is both head of state and head of government, as well as supreme commander of the armed forces. He can remain in office for a maximum of two terms of five years each. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power belongs, in a shared way, to the government and to Majelis Permusyawaratan Rakyat (Mpr) or People’s Consultative Assembly. In 2004, the MPR became bicameral: it is divided into the Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat (Dpr) or Representative Council of the People, elected for a five-year term, and the Dewan Perwakilan Daerah (Dpd) or Regional Representative Council, made up of four representatives for each. of the 33 provinces of Indonesia.
The last presidential elections, held in July 2014, saw the victory of Joko Widodo, leader of the Indonesian Democratic Struggle Party (PDI-P), which returned to being the first party in the country for the first time since the 1999 legislative elections. parliamentary elections in April 2014 had assigned the majority of seats to the same party, albeit with a very fragile majority that poses governance problems for the new president. The latter was elected on the basis of an ambitious reform program, based on the fight against corruption and the increased efficiency of the public administration. After a promising start to the legislature, Widodo’s government saw its position weaken considerably during 2015. Due to the break with the leader of thePdi-P, Megawati Sukarnoputri, parliamentary support for the president has become precarious and this has effectively stopped the reform process. The below-expectations economic data also helped undermine Widodo’s popularity.
