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What’s at stake in Indonesia as the world’s third-largest democracy elects a new president?
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FILE - Presidential candidates, from left, Ganjar Pranowo, Prabowo Subianto and Anies Baswedan holds hands as they pose for photographers after the first presidential candidates' debate in Jakarta, Indonesia, Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2023. Indonesia, the world's third-largest democracy, will open its polls on Wednesday to nearly 205 million eligible voters in presidential and legislative elections, the fifth since Southeast Asia's largest economy began democratic reforms in 1998. - photo by AP Photo/Tatan Syuflana, File
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesia, the world’s third-largest democracy, will open its polls on Wednesday to nearly 205 million eligible voters in presidential and legislative elections, the fifth since Southeast Asia’s largest economy began democratic reforms in 1998. The sprawling archipelago of 17,000 islands and more than 270 million people from about 1,300 ethnic groups is a bastion of democracy in Southeast Asia, a diverse and economically vibrant region of authoritarian regimes, police states and nascent democracies. WHAT IS AT STAKE IN THE ELECTION?