WASHINGTON (AP) – President Barack Obama’s quick congratulation for Indonesia’s election victor Joko Widodo, even as the losing candidate rejected the result, underscores Washington’s intent to deepen ties with Jakarta and support democracy in Southeast Asia.
A peaceful transfer of power in Indonesia would buck a worrying trend in a region marred by flawed elections and military meddling. It would also show that democracy thrives in the country with the world’s largest Muslim population.
Over the past year, there have been disputed elections in Malaysia and Cambodia, where this week the opposition agreed to end a parliamentary boycott. Thailand, once an example of democratic progress, is facing its most repressive period of military rule in decades. Authoritarian governments prevail in Laos and Vietnam, and reforms seem to be stalling in former pariah state Myanmar.
Political change has been comparatively smooth in Indonesia, the largest country in Southeast Asia, over the past decade and a half. The emergence of Widodo appears to reflect how far it has come since popular protests ended the 30-year rule of former dictator Suharto in 1998.
Widodo, the 53-year-old Jakarta governor, was the first candidate in a direct presidential election without ties to Suharto. He won by 8 million votes, or 6 percent, over Prabowo Subianto, a former general and son-in-law of the late dictator. Political uncertainties remain, however, as Subianto announced Wednesday he plans to file a legal challenge in the nation’s highest court.