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Indonesia’s core holds, decisively, in elections
With rising exclusivism in many parts of Indonesian society, embracing inclusiveness is what the nation needs. #opinion
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Two men wear masks of presidential candidates Joko Widodo (left) and Prabowo Subianto as residents in Joho, Surakarta, Central Java, hold an event to foster harmony in the wake of last week’s elections. (Antara/Maulana Surya )
W
hile many observers have underlined that last April’s presidential election showed a greater divide in the Indonesian electorate, one stark outcome seems to have been overlooked.
Deeper polarization has arisen between two Indonesian communities in their choice of leaders. On one side, more conservative Muslim communities supported Prabowo Subianto-Sandiaga Uno. On the other, more diverse Indonesian communities — in terms of ethnicity and religion — voted for Joko “Jokowi” Widodo-Ma’ruf Amin.
Those diverse communities brought forth a significant lead for the latter pair, primarily because of coalescing support in Indonesia’s core. This core consists of the Javanese heartland that encompasses three provinces: Central and East Java and Yogyakarta. The largest electorate block, it entails a third of the nation’s ballot at almost 50 million votes.
Compare that to the second largest block in western part of Java, home of the Sundanese, which is at a quarter of the national tally. Sumatra, at third, and eastern Indonesia, at 22 percent, round up the numbers.
In this election, while the outcome from Sumatra showed strong support for Prabowo, the eastern islands leaned decisively to Jokowi. This resulted in a narrow lead for Jokowi, at around 2.6 million votes.
As in the 2014 presidential election, the western part of Java — Banten, Jakarta and West Java — once again went for Prabowo. Although the incumbent President nudged a small lead in Jakarta, in this region he lost by some 6.6 million votes.
That left the rest of Java to decide the national outcome, and it decided decisively. More than 70 percent of voters in the three provinces chose Jokowi, a Surakarta native, and Ma’ruf, a leader of Javanese-dominated Muslim group Nahdlatul Ulama (NU). Like in 2014, this region was the heart of Jokowi’s support.
