Consolidation of democratic institutions and economic growth characterized the decade of presidency of Bambang Yudhoyono, leader of the Democratic Party (PD) in office for two terms from 2004 to 2014. His government action was aimed above all at defusing internal, ethnic and religious, and to re-establish a context of legality so as to create an environment conducive to development. The agreement reached in 2005 with the separatist guerrillas of Aceh, which put an end to a thirty-year conflict, the tough fight against terrorism and the initiatives against corruption of the state apparatus were the most significant aspects of this strategy. On the economic level, the government launched a series of financial and fiscal reforms to contain public debt and relaunch investments. The shrewd policy of the executive allowed the Indonesia not only to overcome the international financial crisis of 2008, but also to initiate sustained and lasting economic growth with GDP growth rates of around 6% per year. Among the executive’s priorities was also that of relaunching the country’s international role, both at a regional and global level. Consequently, there was an extreme dynamism in foreign policy, especially in multilateral fora such as the UN, G20, APEC (both regionally and globally. Consequently, there was an extreme dynamism in foreign policy, especially in multilateral fora such as the UN, G20, APEC (both regionally and globally. Consequently, there was an extreme dynamism in foreign policy, especially in multilateral fora such as the UN, G20, APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) and ASEAN (Association of South-East Asian Nations); in the latter in particular the Indonesia assumed a leading role. Privileged partners on an economic and strategic level remained Japan, China, Australia and the United States, but strategic partnerships were also developed with numerous other Western states. Alongside the United States in the fight against international terrorism, Yudhoyono proposed the Indonesia, a country with the largest Muslim population in the world, as a mediator between the West and the Muslim world, supporting on numerous public occasions the need for peaceful coexistence between different cultures. In reality, despite the undoubted successes in stabilizing the country and the undisputed popularity of the president (re-elected in 2009 with over 60% of the votes), the government of Yudhoyono presented considerable problems. The economic policy of austerity and the cut in state subsidies led to an increase in the prices of basic necessities and a consequent decrease in the purchasing power of already low wages. Infrastructure investments were inadequate as were the stimuli to support the growth of the manufacturing sector. Furthermore, despite the repeated calls for tolerance, during the administration of Yudhoyono, the episodes of violence against religious and ethnic minorities remained numerous in the face of the inertia of the police. Especially at the regional level, there was a process of Islamization through the introduction of Muslim religious norms in the local jurisdiction extended to all residents, regardless of religious belief. For Indonesia 2015, please check dentistrymyth.com.
Joko Widodo and Jusuf Kalla
In the political elections of 2009, the PD, while establishing itself as the first party, had in fact won only 148 seats out of 560 against 108 in Golkar (Partai Golongan Karya, Party of functional groups, linked to the former dictator Suharto and the armed forces) and 93 of the PDI-P (Partai Demokrasi Indonesia-Perjuangan, Indonesian Democratic Party-Struggle, grouping of moderate and Christian nationalists), while the remaining seats were divided among the numerous smaller parties. Even the relationship with the military remained ambiguous and upon Suharto’s death (2008) considerable controversy generated among the opposition the president’s decision to take part in the celebrations and declare national mourning. Finally, the reform project of the judicial system remained substantially unrealized while the fight against corruption set the pace. At the end of his term, Yudhoyono’s popularity was on the decline although the smooth running of the 2014 presidential elections testified to the stabilization of the democratic system that the outgoing president had managed to guarantee. The new head of state, who took office in October 2014, was elected Joko Widodo (known as Jokowi), candidate of the PDI-P, a man of humble origins, the son of a carpenter, and the first president not to come from the ranks of the army. Former governor of Jakarta, Jokowi presented himself with a program to increase the welfare system (especially health and education) and to invest in infrastructures, as well as with a justice reform project to strengthen the fight against corruption and guarantee greater internal security. In the footsteps of his predecessor, he also declared that he wanted to relaunch the role of the Indonesia as a maritime power of the area. Actually, the executive’s action looked rather difficult since the president did not have a majority in Parliament, the prerogative of the coalition that had supported his opponent, Prabowo Subianto, formed by Golkar and PD, an expression of the conservatives and close to the apparatuses military.
