Jakarta
Indonesian voters increased their support for the party of former dictator Suharto in parliamentary elections this week. In only the second election since the dictator was forced to resign, six years ago, Suharto’s party took 22 percent of the vote, while President Megawati Sukarnoputri’s party took just 19 percent. The result was seen as a rebuke to Megawati for rising unemployment, in a country where half of the 212 million people live on less than $2 a day. Simply holding elections in the sprawling archipelago is a prodigious effort, particularly this year, as local elections were held at the same time. All told, Indonesian voters had to select more than 15,000 representatives from among nearly 450,000 candidates.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Trump seeks to cut drug prices via executive orderspeed read The president's order tells pharmaceutical companies to lower prescription drug prices, but it will likely be thrown out by the courts
-
'Haiti's crisis is a complex problem that defies solution'Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Hamas frees US hostage in deal sidelining Israelspeed read Edan Alexander, a 21-year-old soldier, was the final living US citizen held by the militant group
