Dr Max Lane is Visiting Senior Fellow at the ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute.
For 50 years he has written articles and books on Indonesian politics, history and culture. He has been a Second Secretary at the Australian Embassy in Jakarta; Principal Research Officer, Senate Committee of Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade; written hundreds of articles for newspapers and non-government organisations and am a published translator of Indonesian literary works, including works by Pramoedya Ananta Toer and Rendra.
He has been an academic at the University of Sydney, Victoria University (Melbourne), Murdoch University and the National University of Singapore and lectured at universities in Southeast Asia, Europe and the United States.
This Long Read argues that the polarisation perceived in Indonesian mainstream politics is more rhetorical than real. They mainly reflect opportunistic tactical calculations and obscure the real polarisations in Indonesia’s political landscape.
A small new party is sticking to its ideological guns but will probably not make much of a dent in the established elite’s stranglehold on Indonesia’s electoral politics.
The small but vocal Partai Buruh (PB), a newcomer to Indonesian politics, could disrupt the 2024 elections if its questioning of the status quo succeeds. For now, the odds remain low.
The question of electability has turned Indonesian voters' attention towards potential running mates for the putative presidential candidates in the 2024 race.
