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.
For years, Indonesia’s political landscape had little room for vigorous debate on policy issues, given the focus on individual personalities and even populism. This is beginning to change.
Policies affecting the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) have kept corruption salient in public consciousness. There is growing discontent and anger driven by the perception that the Indonesian political elites are colluding to weaken the KPK to promote their own vested interests.
In Indonesia, a paid vaccination programme bombed out in a span of days. Putting economics above health priorities had added to the negative political climate for the government.
Indonesia’s latest Covid-19 surge has piled pressure on the Widodo government, which is under pressure to reconsider some form of lockdown to rein in the spread of the coronavirus.
