Oligarchic Populism: Prabowo Subianto's Challenge to Indonesian Democracy

In 2014, Indonesia faced its most severe threat of authoritarian regression since the transition to democratic rule began in 1998. Prabowo Subianto, a general with a fiercely reactionary record under the Suharto regime, and with a party platform that implied rolling back key democratic reforms, came within 6.3 percentage points of winning the Jul 9 presidential election. Here, Aspinall examines Subianto's background and the nature of his political appeal, explores how be came so close to winning the presidency, and analyzes the implications of his campaign for Indonesian democracy.