Indonesia pulled off a complex yet peaceful election across its vast — and ethnically diverse — island territory this week, cementing its place as a democratic beacon in a sea of authoritarian governments, analysts say. But the world’s biggest Muslim-majority nation still faces a spike in militant Islam and myriad other challenges. On Wednesday, the […]
Joko Widodo
Planes, rebels and elephants: Indonesia gears up for jumbo polls
From sending ballot boxes by elephant in Sumatra to keeping voters safe in Papua’s rebel territory, Indonesia is pulling out all the stops for one of the world’s biggest one-day polls across a vast archipelago of 260 million. On Wednesday, over 190 million registered voters in the Muslim-majority country will cast their votes in just […]
Halal ink, giant ballots ready for Indonesian vote
Nearly 193 million Indonesians are eligible to vote in presidential and legislative elections on Wednesday. President Joko Widodo, the first Indonesian president from outside the Jakarta elite, is competing against Prabowo Subianto, a former special forces general from the era of authoritarian rule under military dictator Suharto. Some election facts and figures: By the numbers […]
Indonesia’s desperate housewives chase selfies on election trail
Tears stream down Lilis Hastirini’s mascara-smudged face after she waited hours to snap a selfie with Indonesia’s president, only to be thwarted by a crush of other female fans with the same idea. It is a take-no-prisoners battle on the election trail in this selfie-mad nation, where few shots count more than a close up […]