Indonesian Politics in 2012: Graft, Intolerance, and Hope of Change in the Late Yudhoyono Period

Much of the commentary on Indonesian politics in recent few years has focused on the struggle between those pressing for continuing reform and those seeking to halt or reverse it. Pro-reform forces include the media, civil society groups, intellectuals and, to some extent, the public; counter reform forces are generally characterized as elite interests, such as the executive, parliament, major parties, senior public servants and powerful corporate groups and business people, who have an interest in reducing public scrutiny and accountability, particularly as it affects their ability to use high office to generate money for political campaigns, personal enrichment and patronage opportunities. The majority of commentators have argued that the rapid democratization following Soeharto’s downfall in 1998 has now stalled and in some important areas has been sliding backwards.