Where is Indonesian civil society heading? | The Jakarta Post’s The Vantage Point

Activism today is ‘very, very different’. In the past five years, the consensus has been that Indonesian democracy has been stagnating, if not regressing. We can see the signs from draconian policies made by both the administrations of President Prabowo Subianto and his predecessor, Joko “Jokowi” Widodo. We can also see the symptoms of that stagnating democracy from some authoritarian impulses shown by the two leaders. The strengthening of the state has resulted in the weakening of civil society, which in Indonesian politics has played major roles in introducing changes to the country's political system. The dissolution of the New Order regime, which kicked off Reformasi, was the fruit of the labor of everyone in civil society, from human rights lawyers, the labor movement and pro-democracy activists, whose jobs were finished by the students of 1998. But we can also reverse the equation. What if a weak civil society resulted in a stronger state simply because there's no one to hold it accountable or put a check on its authoritarian tendency? The Jakarta Post’s The Vantage Point guest today is Bivitri Susanti, a legal scholar who is more widely known as an antigraft activist, and who has been vocal in exposing the government’s abuse of power. Time Stamp 00:00 Intro 01:56 What is the current state of civil society in Indonesia? 10:10 What are the administrative hurdles against NGOs? 15:49 We had a very strong civil society just 15 years ago, what changed? 21:27 Is the situation today really difficult for civil society organizations to strategize? 25:33 Are the young activists up against the same challenges of the past? 29:24: What do you think about technological impacts on societal movements? 38:00 Are you optimistic about the future of our civil society? LIKE, FOLLOW, SUBSCRIBE to The Jakarta Post's social media accounts for more interesting content! Facebook:   / jakpost   Twitter:   / jakpost   Instagram:   / jakpostimages   Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thejakartapos... Youtube:    / thejakartapostdigital