Attention has focused on whether the local elections in Indonesia helped or hindered President Joko Widodo's re-election in next year's presidential contest. But the real significance of the on June 27 polls to elect provincial governors across the sprawling archipelago was that they passed off peacefully, with high voter turnout averaging over 70%. This showed that there is continued public enthusiasm for how Indonesians are governed at the local level.
This demonstration of democratic rights, combined with the recent election in Malaysia that toppled one of the world's oldest ruling parties, suggests that reports of democracy's demise in Southeast Asia are premature. Significantly, newly elected Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad visited Indonesia in late June in his first overseas trip to discuss "securing democracy" with Widodo.
Yet democracy is far from secure in other parts of the region, where democratic transitions have either lapsed or gone into reverse. In Myanmar, where a free and mostly fair election in 2015 saw a victory for the National League for Democracy led by Aung San Suu Kyi, newly won press freedoms have been curbed and basic human rights for minorities have regressed. In neighboring Thailand, after four years of military rule, there is still no firm timetable for a return to elected government.
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