Publication

This paper provides an outlook on the 2004 Indonesian parliamentary elections as well as on their importance for the presidential elections. It first provides background information on the structure of Indonesian politics by focusing on the analysis of existing political groupings, known as the political "aliran." It then analyzes the electoral race among the contending parties within each of the respective aliran. The paper also assesses the significance of non-aliran parties in the race for the votes of the urban, educated middle classes. The author concludes with some estimation of the election results.