Great Decisions 2012 Spring Update: Indonesia

Great Decisions Updates are issued seasonally and provide groups with the latest news and analysis on topics. The Spring 2012 Update is current as of May, 2012. Download the Spring 2012 Update as a PDF here.

by Leslie Huang, assistant editor

 

On April 9, voters in the restive province of Aceh cast their ballots in the gubernatorial election. The election is the second in Aceh’s history since the peace deal of 2005 that ended a 30-year separatist insurgency. The winner, Zaini Abdullah, is a former member of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), the rebel group that fought against Indonesian rule. At just over 75 percent, voter turnout was relatively high, although there were reports of violence and voter intimidation leading up to the election. Aceh is the only Indonesian province ruled by Sharia law and is one of the most conservative parts of the country.

Economists are keeping an eye on Indonesia’s economic growth, which is threatened by creeping inflation. On April 26, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono announced that the government intended to keep the budget deficit under 3 percent of GDP. Indonesia’s economy is expected to grow at slightly over 6 percent this year, but business analysts are critical of the country’s long-running fuel subsidy program.

On April 16, Taur Matan Ruak, a former Timorese guerrilla fighter, won the runoff presidential election in Timor-Leste. Ruak, whose real name is Jose Maria Vasconcelos, won over 61 percent of the vote in the second round of elections against Francisco Lu Olo Guterres. The incumbent president, Nobel laureate José Ramos-Horta, had been eliminated in the first round of voting in March. The peaceful voting and results, which were certified by the Supreme Court of Appeals, are a promising milestone for a young democracy that emerged only 10 years ago from Indonesia’s rule.

On April 11, a seabed earthquake off the coast of Indonesia sparked panic and emergency evacuations in Banda Aceh, the provincial capital of Aceh. Though no major damage or casualties were reported, there were widespread fears of a tsunami striking Banda Aceh, which was devastated by the 2004 tsunami. On April 20, another earthquake off of the coast of Papua also stoked fears but did not produce a tsunami or significant damage. The earthquakes tested the Pacific tsunami early warning system, which has been in place since 2008.