Ahok and the gubernatorial race in Indonesia

Current governor of Jakarta, widely known as Ahok, will be running in the gubernatorial election coming up later this year. He first took this position when Jokowi, who was the governor of Jakarta, was elected as President and had to leave his post in the middle of the term. This post cites Ahok’s rise as evidence of Indonesian progress in democracy, and also as a test for that democracy.

Why is Ahok such a contested candidate? He is both Christian and of Chinese descent, marking him as a double minority in a country where very few religious or ethnic minorities have clout in national politics. This article presented an interesting case against Ahok, but for political rather than religious or racial reasons. The author of this article is calling for informed democracy over ‘authoritarian populism’, and neither voting for Ahok or against him simply for his minority status.

Read the article here http://www.thejakartapost.com/academia/2016/09/22/commentary-ahok-needs-... or find out more about Ahok here: http://jakartainformer.com/130702/who-is-ahok-supporters-and-psych-exper...