Indonesia is the world’s fourth most populous country and the country with the largest Muslim population.
In May 1998, after a nationwide protest movement and the massacre of several hundred people, General Suharto resigned, ending over three decades of dictatorship. This kicked off a new chapter of history featuring a series of liberal reforms involving democratization, economic liberalisation, the establishment of new institutions and the decentralisation of decision-making powers. However, according to many analysts, this period of reform ended at least a decade ago, since when popular public institutions including the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) have been under constant attack from politicians and the police.
Determined to maintain power and influence beyond his term in office, President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) formed a new alliance with his old rival, ex-general Prabowo Subianto, of the Gerinda party. Jokowi gave up his Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) which brought him into power and contrived to have his son, Gibran Rakabuming Raka, contest as Prabowo’s vice-presidential candidate in the 2023 elections. This despite Gibran being younger the legally required minimum age. The manoeuvre was facilitated by a controversial ruling allowing his candidacy by the Constitutional Court, whose chief justice was Jokowi’s brother-in-law.
Gibran and Prabowo, who is accused of gross human rights violations during the Suharto era, were declared the winners of the general elections in March 2024. During their campaign, the duo promised to continue Jokowi’s ambitious infrastructure projects, including the controversial transfer of the capital from Jakarta to Nusantara, a purpose-built city on the island of Borneo.
Despite some remarkable economic growth in the past decades, Indonesia is a deeply unequal country with the gap between the richest and the poorest growing rapidly. A 2024 report indicated that the 50 richest Indonesians owned as much wealth as 50 million of their poorest compatriots and that, at current wages, the country’s entire workforce would have to work for a whole century to earn as much as the top five billionaires own.
Indonesia was historically seen as an exemplar of moderate Islam, tolerance and pluralism. In recent decades, however, there has been a rise in religious fundamentalism and attacks on Catholics, other Christians and groups of women accused of not being “good Muslims.”
Development and Peace ― Caritas Canada played a key role in supporting the justice and democracy movement in East Timor while it was a province of Indonesia. Following its independence in 2002, we chose to sustain our programming in Indonesia, recognizing the country’s importance as a regional power and its capacity to influence other countries like Malaysia and Burma. The fall of the Suharto regime in 1998 created many opportunities to build a future of justice, democracy and peace.
We work with a variety of local organizations, mainly on the themes of democracy and citizen participation, and ecological justice. Our partners are:
Development and Peace ― Caritas Canada will continue working with women in Indonesia to support their empowerment by collaborating with organizations that promote gender justice and democracy and that combat poverty and religious fundamentalism.
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