CANBERRA, Australia, Sept., 25 2014 (ANTARA/Medianet International-AsiaNet) --
This paper by Peter McCawley looks at the possible paths for policy and development in Indonesia under the leadership of Joko Widodo, who will take office on 20 October. The paper considers the challenges that lie ahead and assesses five areas: the political system; economic challenges; government and administration; social issues; and foreign affairs.
Then two possible scenarios of governance under the new administration are considered:
- an outward-looking reform path
- an inward-looking resilience path.
President Joko Widodo will face a range of early challenges. He'll need to build good political support to be able to follow a reform path. And the economic challenges he faces are formidable. Reform of government and administration will also be needed under a reform path.
In the area of foreign policy, he'll have little time to review issues before three major international meetings; APEC in Beijing, East Asia Summit in Naypyitaw and the G20 in Brisbane. Both he and the policies of the new government will come under close attention.
But there's no guarantee that it will be easy for Widodo to implement reforms. He may find that there are considerable pressures on him to adopt a more inward-looking resilience scenario.
Widodo's position is difficult because the oppositionist pro-Prabowo Subianto grouping in the parliament appears to have a clear majority of seats after the legislative elections in April.
The new president may also find it difficult to adopt economic policies promoting outwardly oriented economic growth. Recently, the overall rate of economic growth in Indonesia has been slowing.
President Joko Widodo may also find that it's not easy to promote reform within government. In contrast to a reform-oriented foreign policy, a nationalist policy focused on domestic resilience could be less accommodating and more cautious about participating in ambitious international or regional plans. Many Indonesians would support an approach of this kind.
Joko Widodo will now need to decide whether to adopt an outward-looking reform program or to pursue a more inward-looking approach intended to promote resilience at home. Perhaps he'll select policies that combine elements from both paths.
More information contact: Dr Peter McCawley,
email: pmccawley@gmail.com
Report can be downloaded from www.aspi.org.au or contact ASPI: +61 2 6270 5100
SOURCE: Australian Strategic Policy Institute
Editor: PR Wire
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