Indonesia:Transition until TodayKevin W. FoggOxford Centre for Islamic Studies and Faculty of History, University of OxfordUnited Kingdomkevin.fogg@history.ox.ac.ukwww.kevinwfogg.net / http://oxford.academia.edu/KevinFogg

Introduction to Indonesia – 1 • Today, about 250 million people • 17,000 islands• Over 600 languages• Muslims (of several varieties), Protestant Christians, Catholic Christians, Hindus, Buddhists, Confucians, Baha’is, local religions, etc. etc.

Introduction to Indonesia – 2

Introduction to Indonesia – 3

From Robert Cribb, ed. Historical Atlas of Indonesia (Honolulu, HI: U Hawai’i Press, 2000).

Introduction to Indonesia – 4 • In classical times, many different kingdoms

• Dutch colonialism united the territory• Declared independence in 1945, and fought a 4-year revolution to achieve it

• 1945-65: President Soekarno over “Liberal Democracy” and “Guided Democracy”

• 30 September 1965, reported Communist coup /1 October 1965, army counter-coup

• 1965-98: President Suharto and an army-backed dictatorship

KEY EVENTS1998 to 2014, organized by President

Suharto (1965-1998)

Habibie (1998-99)

Abdurrahman Wahid (“Gus Dur”, 1999-2001)

Megawati Soekarnoputri (2001-04)

Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (“SBY”, 2004-2014)

Joko Widodo(“Jokowi”, 2014- )

Key Issues

•Separatism•Corruption•Internationally-oriented terrorism

•Communal violence

Separatism – 1 (East Timor)• Had not been part of Indonesiain the colonial era (Dutch colony)

• Long-standing separatist movementwith a Nobel Peace winner

• President Habibie agreed to a vote(“referendum”) on whether East Timorshould become independent

• The army intimidated the people and attacked them at the time of the vote; the UN had to come and try to keep the peace

• The people of East Timor voted for independence, so now they are a separate country (Timor Leste)

Separatism – 2 (Papua)• Not given to Indonesia in 1950 after the revolution– instead, the Dutch held this territory until 1962

• When transferred to Indonesia, the UN called for a referendum so the Papuan peoplecould determine their fate– insteadof a referendum there was a publicmeeting sponsored by Indonesianarmy

• Ever since, many Papuans havecalled for a real consultation processon independence, based on racialand cultural difference

• Major natural resources (mining)

Separatism – 3 (Aceh)• Very Muslim province– some wouldsay the strictest Muslims in Indonesia

• Also a province with natural resources,especially natural gas

• There was a rebellion here in the 1950sand a new rebellion started in the 1970s

• On 26 December 2004, a huge tsunami swept across the coast of Aceh, killing about 125,000 people

• This tragedy prompted the Acehnese rebel leaders (living in exile) and the Indonesian leadership to reach a compromise, including a law that would allow Aceh to incorporate religion in government

Corruption – 1• A culture of “Corruption, Collusion, and Nepotism” (in Indonesian, KKN) was spread through all of Indonesia in the Suharto era

• Big businesses across the country were usually owned by people who had political families; money flowed only within a small circle

• Aside from the highest-level corruption (which destroyed the state budget), Indonesians also saw corruption in their everyday lives– especially dealing with the police, but even for school grades!

• Fixing KKN is one of the biggest challenges of Indonesia since 1998

Corruption – 2• All politicians have pledged to tackle corruption, but it is finally working

• Online transparency have really helped, especially on large funding issues

• 2013 was a banner year• Party chairman of the ruling party (Partai Demokrat) arrested

• Governor of Banten province was arrested on corruption– she bribed the Constitutional Court

• Chief Judge of the Constitutional Court was arrested for accepting bribes to change election decisions; jail term for life

• The new president, Joko Widodo (Jokowi), is famous for being clean and exposing corruption

Internationally-oriented Terrorism• Major events were the Bali bombings in 2002 (over 200 people killed) and 2005; also some bombings in Jakarta (major hotels, Australian embassy)

• With international support (especially from Australia and the US), the police in Indonesia improved a lot and were able to work on this problem

• Since 2006, terrorism in Indonesia has been directed towards the Indonesian state (especially the police), not international targets

Communal Violence – 1 • Major communal violence (both ethnic and religious) began in 1996, before the transition; the latest major incidents of violence came in 2006 – 10 years of trouble

• The first problems were mostly ethnic (anti-Chinese, anti-transmigrant)

• Later problems were more often religious– and they often involved attackers coming from other parts of Indonesia to “defend” their religion

Communal Violence – 2 • Indonesians have responded by rejecting violence and increasing their spirit of unity

• President Gus Dur: “Tuhan tak perlu dibela” / “God does not need to be defended”

• Many community groups and civil society organizations have taken the initiative to fight this problem

• Honestly, the government has not been able to help this situation much– it has to come from society.

Further information

• Indonesian news coverage:• Tempo: www.tempo.co (in English and Indonesian) • Jakarta Post: www.thejakartapost.com (in English)• Kompas: www.kompas.co.id (in Indonesian)

• Foreign observer blogs:• New Mandala of Australian National University (http://asiapacific.anu.edu.au/newmandala/category/indonesia-votes/)

• Interesting books:• Theodore Friend, Indonesian Destinies (Belknap, 2003)• Anthony Reid, ed., Indonesia Rising (ISEAS, 2013)

DISCUSSION

kevin.fogg@history.ox.ac.ukwww.kevinwfogg.nethttp://oxford.academia.edu/KevinFogg

Outline Timeline

May 1998: Suharto resigns; Habibie new presidentAug 1999: Legislature elects Gus Dur president

Dec 2004: Aceh tsunami, then peace process

July 2004: SBY beats Megawati for president in first direct

presidential election20**?: Creation of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK)

July-Aug 2014: Jokowi beats Prabowo for Pres

2000: Gus Dur forced to resign; Mega new president

***: National Legislative elections1999: East Timor referendum, then independence

2004-06: Muslim-Christian violence in Poso

July 2009: SBY re-elected with a strong vote

2013: Party chairman, governor, and constitutional court judge arrested for separate corruption