On a day in which Indonesia is once again confronted with its own bloody history of mass killing while under military rule comes the results of a major new survey that says a significant majority of Indonesians still think a government ruled by the military would be a good thing.

The Pew Research Center’s Spring 2017 Global Attitudes Survey, titled “Globally, Broad Support for Representative and Direct Democracy,” polled respondents in 38 countries regarding their attitudes about democracy as well as their support for other forms of government. As the title suggests, people around the world generally show strong support for democratic governance, but Indonesia is an exception to many of the survey’s other findings as well.

When asked “How satisfied are you with the way democracy is working in your country?” 69% of Indonesians said that they were satisfied at some level. But when asked, “Would a system in which the military rules the country be a good or bad way of governing this country?” an almost equal number, 68%, said it would be good.

Indonesia had the second-highest percentage of respondents who answered that military rule would be good, trumped only by Vietnam, where 70% of respondents saying they were down for a military dictatorship. In stark contrast, only 17% of respondents in the US said it would be a good thing, and the median for all countries was 10%.

Indonesia was also an outlier when it came to the survey’s question on autocratic rule. Asked, “Would a system in which a strong leader can make decisions without interference from parliament or the courts be a good or bad way of governing this country?” 52% of respondents in Indonesia said it would be good.

That was also the second-highest of any country in the survey (55% of Indians also said an autocratic dictatorship would be a good way to govern the country). The median for all countries was 26%.

You might expect that the reason so many Indonesians would support military or autocratic dictatorships is because they have a lack of trust in the current system of government. But on the question “How much do you trust the national government to do what is right for our country?” Indonesia actually scored relatively high, with 83% of its respondents answering “a lot” or “somewhat,” much higher than countries like the US, Australia, or Japan (this result is in line with the results of a recent OECD report that found that Indonesians have the highest levels of confidence in government of any country they surveyed).

Pew’s 2017 Global Attitudes Survey was conducted in Indonesia from Feb 21-May 3, 2017, and is based off a sample size of 1,000 respondents surveyed in face-to-face interviews.

So what is the explanation for Indonesians showing such high levels of support for either autocratic or military dictatorship? We’d have to guess that it is the result of a lingering nostalgia for Suharto and his New Order government. Despite Suharto’s epic corruption and his forced resignation due to massive protests in 1998, many Indonesians still have (or have concocted) rosy memories of life under his authoritarian regime.

Whatever the reason, one could interpret these results as evidence that the increasing politicization of the Indonesian military under Commander General Gatot Nurmantyo (who many believe is preparing for a move into electoral politics) will not be opposed by the general public. Which some would say is a pretty scary thought, considering what happened the last time the military took control of the country in order to protect the people from their “enemies.”

Complete report PDF: “Globally, Broad Support for Representative and Direct Democracy”, Pew Research Center

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