The Conversation

A requiem for Reformasi as Joko Widodo unravels Indonesia's democratic legacy

Author: Tim Lindsey, Malcolm Smith Professor of Asian Law and Director of the Centre for Indonesian Law, Islam and Society, University of Melbourne

It’s deeply ironic that Indonesia’s third president, BJ Habibie, died on September 11 – less than a week before the national legislature passed a law that gutted the highly-regarded Anti-Corruption Commission (KPK), effectively killing it.

On one level, the irony is because Habibie was forced to abandon his attempt to retain the...

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