The world’s third largest democracy, and our closest neighbour, has just welcomed their first new president in ten years. Indonesia’s Joko Widodo was still known primarily as a furniture seller when his predecessor Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono became president. However, he has quickly ascended Indonesian politics with his reputation as a “man of the people”, ever ready to stand up to the country’s political and military elite.
It now remains to be seen how Widodo will navigate his minority government past a hostile opposition to implement meaningful reform. Here in Australia, political observers are keen to see how Australian-Indonesian relations will develop under the new president.