When Democracy Does Work

TW: Sometimes things are going well in a country which makes for a seemingly boring story. But if things were going poorly in Indonesia I am sure our attention would be more concentrated. Indonesia is a big country (population 240MM), it is majority Muslim, and situated in a strategically important region. Yet we rarely pay much attention to it as we typically fret about the world's trouble spots instead.

Occasionally it is useful to pay attention to the successes especially when they appear to be integrating democracy with Islam whilst tamping down any radical tendencies when many fear those attributes are not readily reconcilable.

From Economist:
"...Across more than 900 inhabited islands, 171m people have registered to vote. They have 38 national parties to choose from, and an estimated 800,000 candidates for the national parliament...Indonesia’s national motto is “Unity in Diversity”...In a country with a history of political violence, the campaign has been largely peaceful and good-humoured, as it was in 2004.

...The army is back in the barracks. Under Suharto it had dwifungsi, the “dual function” of running the country as well as defending it. It also oversaw a huge business empire, since partially dismantled, and was guaranteed enough seats in the parliament to ensure its privileges could not be chipped away. Now not only are serving soldiers barred from political office; the 410,000 members of the armed forces do not even have the vote.

...in the country with more Muslims than any other (nearly 90% of a population of about 240m), political Islam is firmly in the moderate mainstream. Indonesia has done well in rounding up Jemaah Islamiah, the al-Qaeda affiliate responsible for the 2002 Bali bombing. Some forms of Islamic orthodoxy—women wearing headscarves, for example—are more prevalent than a decade ago. And in the last DPR election, about 40% of the vote went to parties broadly defined as Islamist.

...dozens of Islamist parties sprang up. Most have since vanished or become part of the mainstream. To win power nationally and in local elections they have had to adopt a more secular image, or form coalitions with secular parties. Opinion polls have found dwindling support for the regulations based on sharia that some local governments have introduced..."
http://www.economist.com/world/asia/displaystory.cfm?story_id=13403041