5 reasons why elections are important in Indonesia

Ballot boxes prepared for the upcoming general elections in Indonesia (Reuters)

The Economist magazine identified 5 things that it said show that the upcoming elections in Indonesia are more important than the world realizes, because this country has all the ingredients to be one of the most influential countries in Asia, but its current president, Joko Widodo, has long adhered to the tradition of non-alignment in foreign policy and closed policies. Inside.

The magazine explained that the third largest democracy in the world will vote on February 14 to choose a new leader, noting that the preferred candidate, according to opinion polls, is former General Prabowo Subianto, who has a horrific record in the field of human rights, while the other two candidates are trailing behind him, Anis. Baswedan and Ganjar Prano.

First: space

The magazine presented 4 graphs and a map to illustrate the enormous potential that the country enjoys, starting with Indonesia's enormous size. If a map were drawn of the sprawling archipelago on Eurasia, it would extend from Ireland to Turkmenistan, and its population is spread across thousands of islands, some of which are filled with farms and factories.

Indonesia's challenging geography has encouraged a boom in digital services, and the capital, Jakarta, has become one of the most successful incubators for new technology companies in Southeast Asia, with nearly four-fifths of Indonesians owning smartphones, connecting the country like never before.

Second: Infrastructure and demographics

Jokowi, as the current president is known, has built dozens of airports, ports, dams and hundreds of kilometers of toll roads, earning him the title of construction chief.

Indonesia's demographics are part of its important potential, as it is the fourth largest country in the world in terms of population with about 276 million people, a quarter of whom are under the age of 15, and only 7% of them are over 65 years of age, making it a huge consumer market.

Indonesia's 200 million eligible voters have nurtured the emerging democracy. Political debates in the run-up to this year's elections have been watched by nearly 100 million people. Election rallies have become more issue-focused and less concerned with pomp and fanfare. Turnout this year is expected to be high, but Prabowo's victory could jeopardize the country's democratic progress, the magazine says.

Third: One of the best performing economies in the world

Although Jokowi did not achieve the 7% annual economic growth he promised, Indonesia has been one of the best-performing economies in the world in recent years. It is the sixth largest emerging market in terms of GDP, and its GDP per capita exceeds that of India and Vietnam. If it stays on this path over the next decade, it could become one of the 10 largest economies in the world.

Despite all this, there are still major challenges facing Jokowi’s successor, according to the magazine, as the GDP per capita in Jakarta rose to about 19 thousand dollars in 2022, but in the neighboring Central Java province it did not exceed 3 thousand dollars, and some remote islands Poorer.

Fourth: green goods

Although the backbone of Indonesia's economy is commodities, and its production of nickel used in electric car batteries exceeds that of the rest of the world, an analysis conducted by The Economist magazine indicates that Indonesia could become the fourth largest producer of green goods in the world, after Australia, Chile and Mongolia, by Year 2030.

Indonesia aims to manufacture electric vehicle batteries with a total capacity of 140 gigawatt-hours in 2030. This total is roughly equivalent to global production in 2020. It has banned the export of some minerals, prompting multinational companies to build refineries locally, a policy known as “ Transfer to downstream.

Fifth: A theater for great power competition

The magazine concluded that Indonesia's location, size, and resources will make it a major arena in great power competitions, especially since investments are flowing into it from both America and China.

However, the next Indonesian president faces two difficulties, the first of which is that tariffs or sanctions may hit the Chinese companies that Indonesia depends on, if tensions between China and America escalate, and the second is that the downstream transfer policy that is beneficial for nickel may backfire in other sectors, such as the energy industry. Solar.

Source: Economist