The number of parties represented in parliament may fall from ten to four
pavilion down a backstreet in Yogyakarta, a mid-sized Indonesian city, Tutiek Widyo is making her pitch to the crowd. She is a candidate for the local legislature from the National Mandate Party , a small Islamic outfit, in the general election on April 17th. Dressed in a bejewelled headscarf, Ms Tutiek patiently spells out her credentials to the audience, who are mostly elderly.
On the face of things, democracy has thrived since then. The subsequent presidential elections have all been genuinely competitive. Democracy pervades every level of government. Voters get to choose a chief executive and a parliament not just for the country as a whole, but also for provinces and the next layer of administration, cities and districts. The press is free and public protests are common.
The contest could have been even less competitive. A year ago Jokowi and Mr Prabowo toyed with the possibility of running on a joint ticket, despite having battled one another fiercely in the previous election. That would have ended any semblance of a meaningful contest. Talks fell apart, but observers saw the possible partnership as a sign of the increasingly collusive nature of Indonesia’s democracy.
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