The Sounds of Contradiction

This chapter examines the rise of Joko Widodo, who has branded himself as the people’s president. The discussion begins by examining constitutional identity through the lens of political economy. The struggle between the socialist and capitalist modes of economy has defined economic constitutional identity in Indonesian constitutional history. Under the New Order regime, State capitalism emerged triumphantly as the economic constitutional identity in Indonesia, which can be defined as the authoritarian constitutional capitalist regime. This chapter argues that Widodo restored authoritarian constitutional capitalism by applying the same playbook of the New Order regime, focusing on economic growth through foreign investment while also launching numerous populist social programs. The telos of the Widodo administration is merely economic growth and the strengthening of state capitalism rather than the rule of law. The bottom line is that Widodo’s growth ideology has come at the expense of increasing disregard for the Constitution and the rule of law. Thus, despite the constitutional reform, the economic constitutional identity in Indonesia remains unchanged; authoritarian constitutional capitalism remains intact, and the state continues to hold enormous power in the economic sphere.