CNA Explains: What makes Indonesians so unhappy about the proposed changes to the election law?

What might Mr Jokowi be trying to do?

Professor Vidi Hadiz, director of the Asia Institute at the University of Melbourne, described the Jokowi-Prabowo alliance as “fragile” and said Jokowi’s influence would be greatly weakened once Prabowo took the top job.

Professor Haditz, who teaches Asian studies, explains the possible reasons.

“All the patronage networks that (Mr Jokowi) has built could potentially turn to Prabowo. So what he needs to do is to place as many people loyal to him as possible in key positions to ensure that he has influence over Prabowo,” he told CNA’s Asia First.

He pointed out that Jokowi also succeeded Removal of former chairman of the Professional Group Partythe country’s second-largest party, and replaced him with a loyalist.

“He is clearly positioning himself so that when Prabowo takes office as president on October 20, he will not become redundant or obsolete,” said Professor Hadiz.

Professor Hadiz noted that despite Jokowi’s traditionally high approval ratings, many of his actions have become “blatantly aimed at seizing power and maintaining his power and influence.”

He added that Indonesian people, who had tolerated his past behavior, had now lost patience with such moves.

“We have to see whether this outbreak of protests is a one-off event and whether, once this particular controversy passes, it develops into a more sustained phenomenon that enables some kind of civil society-based oversight of the elites,” he said.

“But Indonesia’s recent history shows that maintaining these dynamics is very difficult, in part because the opposition itself is highly fragmented and poorly organized.”

Can the law still be changed?

Professor Chen said registration for the local elections opens on Tuesday (August 27) and the chances of Parliament resuming before then are “almost zero”.

The legislature faces another obstacle, he said: The issue resonates with young Indonesians.

“If they (the government) try to play games, I doubt anyone will be willing to pay the political price,” he said.

Professor Hadiz said that while passing the law by Tuesday “seems logistically and logistically impossible”, Indonesian protesters had been following developments because of “a history of high-level collusion among political elites”.

“They don’t believe anything the leadership and parliament say. So basically, they are on standby to make sure there is no attempt to secretly hold a meeting,” he said.