[20190318]IN11077_印尼准备重选.pdf

CRS INSIGHT Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress INSIGHTINSIGHTi i Indonesia Prepares for Election Rematch Ben Dolven Specialist in Asian Affairs March 18, 2019 Voters in Indonesia, the worlds most populous Muslim-majority nation, are scheduled to go to the polls on April 17 to elect a President and the 560 members of the Peoples Representative Council, Indonesias national Parliament. This will be Indonesias fourth direct presidential election and the first time presidential and parliamentary polls are to be simultaneous. It is also expected to be one of the largest democratic exercises in the world: among democracies, Indonesia trails only India and the United States in the size of its electorate. The presidential polls pit the same two candidates who contested the last elections in 2014: President Joko Widodo and former army Special Forces commander Prabowo Subianto. Widodo, almost universally known by his nickname, Jokowi, won the bitterly contested previous election by 9 million votes. Most opinion polls show him once again holding a lead over Prabowo, but the advantage may be narrowing as election day nears. To many observers, the elections represent another step in