A Closer Look returned for a fourth year in February 2024, focusing on Indonesia just as the people of Southeast Asia's most powerful nation had elected a successor to hugely popular President Joko Widodo. In a webcast and a podcast featuring five guests from Indonesia, we explore Widodo's legacy, and what Indonesians expect from their next President, Prabowo Subianto.

Hear directly from Jakarta, with experts Yosifebi Ramadhani, who is involved with digital platforms informing young Indonesians –the majority of the electorate– on their country's politics; Fakhridho Susilo, who helps connect investors to the right people in the Indonesian government; and Gita Damayana, an expert on democratization and legal reform in Indonesia. The conversation is moderated by Remko Tanis, Programs and Editorial Manager at Asia Society Switzerland.

Plus: listen to the special episode of our STATE OF ASIA podcast, featuring Nimas Mega Purnamasari and Yoes C Kenawas, talking about Jokowi's legacy, life on Bali, political dynasties in Indonesia, and why stand-up comedians in the country rather talk about the fictitious country of Wakanda than about Indonesia.

SPEAKERS

Fakhridho SBP Susilo is a senior analyst at BowerGroupAsia in Jakarta, a strategic advisory firm that specializes in the Indo-Pacific, where he does policy and regulatory analyses, stakeholder mapping and engagement, and policy advocacy for global clients. He is also a lecturer of law at President University and a founding member and researcher of KiPRAH Indonesia, a think-tank and non-profit working on sustainable development and good governance. Ridho’s research interests intersect the areas of democracy, political change, geopolitics, and the political economy of development in the Asia Pacific. He has written extensively for national and international media and has published in various academic outlets on these topics. He holds a PhD in policy and governance from the Crawford School of Public Policy, the Australian National University. He is the recipient of the 2022-2023 Fox International Fellowship at Yale University, Macmillan Center for International and Area Studies. He obtained his Master’s in Public Policy in from the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore, and completed his Bachelor’s degree in international law at the Faculty of Law, University of Indonesia.

Yosifebi Ramadhani is the Corporate Communications Lead at Think Policy, a one-stop platform to improve the public policy ecosystem in Indonesia. Through Think Policy, Yosi is also involved in Bijak Memilih (“vote wisely”), an independent movement to make it easier for young people to get relevant and credible information ahead of the 2024 election. With a background in communication and media, Yosi holds a Bachelor’s degree in Communications from Binus International and a Master’s degree in Strategic Public Relations from the University of Sydney. In her spare time, Yosi is also actively involved in the Indonesian English Debate Community, which she has been a part of since 2012.

Gita Putri Damayana from Jakarta is a PhD candidate at The Australian National University College of Asia Pacific - School of Regulation & Global Governance, under the Australia Award Scholarship. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in law from the University of Indonesia and a Master’s degree in law from the University of Washington School of Law, Seattle, under a Fulbright Scholarship Award from the U.S. Department of State. Gita's research areas are law and regulatory reform, legislative process and civic space. Prior to her study at ANU, Gita was Executive Director at the Indonesia Centre for Law and Policy Study and lecturer at Indonesia Jentera School of Law in Jakarta. As a researcher, Gita works in various areas in legal reform with other Indonesia civil society organizations, especially in anti-corruption and civic space advocacy. Her proposed PhD research explores what shapes Indonesia's legislative process after 25 years of reform and what the best way is to construct future regulatory reform.

Nimas Mega Purnamasari is the Director of the United in Diversity Bali Campus. She has more than ten years of experience related to commercials, mentoring, consulting, and events management in various industries such as national and multinational companies, NGOs, government, and universities. She holds a Master's degree with First Class Honours from Monash University, Australia majoring in Applied Linguistics. Education, human capacity development, circular economy, women's empowerment, language, and culture always excite her.

Yoes C Kenawas is a Research Fellow at Institute for Advanced Research, Atma Jaya Catholic University. He is also a PhD Candidate in Political Science at Northwestern University. He's been researching the rise of political dynasties in Indonesia for more than a decade. He believes in the power of comedy in creating a mature democracy. He's also interested in the topic of mystical beliefs among Indonesian politicians. He is now based in Jakarta, observing the upcoming elections from a close distance.