Elections in Indonesia are billed as Pesta Demokrasi, or Democracy Festival. It seemed fitting that in this election's logistical tour de force, the politician who most exemplifies technocratic competence and moderate rhetoric—Joko Widodo, the incumbent widely known as “Jokowi”—came out on top once again. But in his re-election campaign, he did little to placate disappointed progressive supporters who had hoped for advances in human rights during his 2014 campaign. There has still been no truth and reconciliation process over the mass killings of 1965, nor any accountability for the security forces' shooting thousands in 1998 during protests that led to the departure of the dictator Suharto. Even two decades later, none of this is far beneath the surface of Indonesian politics.
